Paul Pierce played basketball.
The 2007 -- 08 NBA season was the 62nd season of the National Basketball Association . John Joseph `` Hondo '' Havlicek ( [ ˈhævlᵻtʃɛk ] ; born April 8 , 1940 ) is an American retired professional basketball player who competed for 16 seasons with the Boston Celtics , winning eight NBA championships , four of them coming in his first four seasons . Paul Pierce . Pierce is one of only three players , alongside Larry Bird and John Havlicek , to score over 20,000 points in their career with the Celtics alone .