basketball legend Paul Pierce recently broke the silence about his abrupt dismissal from ESPN. Addressing the situation on his podcast.
“The Truth Lounge with Paul Pierce”, the tenacious former Boston Celtics star recalled the cause and implications of his firing.
On the day of his firing, Pierce allegedly attended a poker party for a friend’s birthday. The gathering, characterized by Loud music and dancing women, yielded an Instagram Live video that publicly drew the wrong kind of attention.
The video displayed Paul indulging in alcohol consumption, smoking, and soaking up the promiscuous atmosphere.
The footage of the event surfaced on Pierce’s Instagram account, presenting him amidst bikini-clad women twerking and offering him massages.
The former NBA star’s public indulgences led to an immediate rift with ESPN.
“I was caught in the moment; what you want me to do?” asked Pierce.
Upon broadcasting the video, Pierce anticipated neither the magnitude of its viral potential nor the backlash that was to follow.
Pierce was taken aback by a swarm of calls the next day, one of which was from a person claiming to be an ESPN investigator, leading to his termination.
The Instagram Live video violated Disney’s morality clause, leading to ESPN’s decision to sever ties with the retired professional basketball player.
Notably, Pierce had planned to quit ESPN by year’s end as he felt restrained by the partnership’s polished image.
Pierce confessed his dissatisfaction with the environment and the limitations it imposed on his opinions.
“I was tired of being held back on my opinions,” he added. “And so, it was probably the right timing of it all anyway. I was disappointed on the way it went down. You know, I didn’t want it to go that…I didn’t do nothing illegal, and that’s the story. I got fired for literally having a good time.”
"I didn’t do nothing illegal, and that’s the story. I got fired for literally having a good time.” ⬇️https://t.co/jYW7AZ06cW
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 28, 2024
Pierce has previously contained his dissatisfaction about ESPN’s actions in respectful tones.
He accepted the decision, even though it did not sit well with him. However, the debut episode of his new podcast marked a significant shift in his conduct towards networks similar to ESPN.
“And now we watch these shows. You know you got employees for ESPN and FOX who got their alternate shows,” Pierce said, likely making reference to Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe. “Now tell me where the morals in all of that when they talking about women and strippers and drinking alcohol on the set. And doing all this other stuff. Where the morals at now? Why it change now? You know, I don’t get it. It was morals two years ago, but there ain’t no morals no more? What’s the deal with that?”
“So, I don’t get how people gonna define what they say as morals and what’s good and what’s not. You know, I’m in my free time; I can do what I want in my free time. If I’m not out here doing something illegal, doing something that’s against the law, I don’t see what’s the problem with what I do in my free time.”
Adding a tangy twist to his revelations, Pierce hinted at revealing further insights related to his ESPN experience.
This has left basketball and sports media analysts on tenterhooks, wondering about the juicy details yet to be unveiled.
