Why was Paul Pierce stabbed? Celtics icon played all 82 games after being stabbed 11 times

Twenty years ago on September 25, Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce was brutally stabbed eleven times. The incident happened in a now-shut down Bazz Club in Boston, following which Pierce still completed all his 82 games with the Celtics for the 2000-01 season. Some years after the incident, Pierce revealed that he suffered from depression after the incident and carried a gun around to help his paranoia. While publically, Pierce remained unaffected, he later claimed that the incident altered his life completely. 

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Why was Paul Pierce stabbed at the Bazz Club in Boston?

During a recent episode on the All the Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Pierce revealed how the events of the night unfolded. Pierce was visiting the Bazz Club in Boston with some friends, which included his teammate Tony Battie. According to the ten-time NBA All-Star, trouble began when he started talking with some women.

Pierce remembered that a man told him to stop talking to a young woman before a small fight began. The tussle spiralled out of hand, and Pierce – due to his adrenaline rush – wasn't even aware that he had been stabbed. 

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Paul Pierce stabbing incident discussed on the All the Smoke podcast

Paul Pierce stab wounds

Pierce was stabbed 11 times and needed emergency lung surgery.  While on the podcast, Pierce revealed that he was stabbed three times in the stomach, and five times in the back by two different knives. The then-23-year-old was also hit on the head with a bottle, which gave him a right eye scar that had to be surgically fixed as it was all "scraped out". Pierce noticed he was bleeding and stabbed later, having blood streaming down his face. 

Had no idea Paul Pierce went through depression after the stabbing, including some panic attacks. "I would tell everyone to get the help they need. My depression was bad -- really bad. I never want to feel that way again." https://t.co/Ae00AB7RGX

— Tomek Kordylewski (@Timi_093) August 20, 2018

“I can barely keep my eyes open. And they’re like, ‘You’re stabbed, you need to go to the hospital, Pierce said. Battie was the one who rushed him to the hospital. Once everyone was informed, the Celtics management was not sure Pierce would survive. And if he did, there were several doubts about the remainder of his career. After he was out of danger, Pierce had revealed that if the knife had entered his body an inch to the left or right, he might not have survived. 

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Who stabbed Paul Pierce?

As per reports, a man named William Ragland was the one who stabbed Pierce. Ragland was convicted for assault, and sentenced to 10 years in jail. Another man, Trevor Watson, was sentenced for a year for hitting Pierce during the fight.

While Pierce overcame the physical and mental trauma, his game improved, wiping away all the worries his teammates might have had. During an interview, former teammate Kenny Anderson spoke about how no one talks about Pierce's incident, even though he almost died and continued to play. " See, you’ve gotta understand. You run away from that. He played 11 or 12 (more) years in the same city it happened in. To this day, it’s crazy just even talking about this.”

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(Image credits: NBA Stats Twitter)