Paul Pierce, ‘The Dungeon,’ and a lasting friendship
LOS ANGELES — There was a time when NBA teams had to send a representative to the draft, basically to sit by a landline and wait for a pick to be called in. In 1998, that assignment fell to the Celtics’ travel and equipment manager, John Connor. So Connor flew to Vancouver and awaited further instructions from the Celtics’ coach and general manager, Rick Pitino.
“Rick said to me, ‘Hey, listen, we’re coming out of this with either Nowitzki or Pierce,’ ” Connor said.
Dirk Nowitzki was selected by the Bucks with the ninth pick and traded to the Mavericks. The Celtics were more than happy to scoop up Paul Pierce at No. 10, and Connor was the first team employee to meet him. They were together at Pierce’s draft party later that night and instantly formed a bond with their wit.
“Just from the jump, I knew he had a great sense of humor,” said Connor, who is known around the organization as Johnny Joe. “We were laughing. I said, ‘Boy we’ve got a great kid here.’ And then I just watched him grow.”
Neither realized that night would be the start of a lifelong friendship. When Pierce returned to Boston with the Clippers last month to play his final game at TD Garden, he relaxed in Connor’s office beforehand, just as he did before almost every game of his Celtics career.
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