WATCH: Pierce answers Jaylen Brown's question about wheelchair game originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
What really happened during Paul Pierce's infamous wheelchair game? It's a question many in Boston, including Celtics star Jaylen Brown, still want an answer to.
Pierce was taken to the locker room in a wheelchair during the third quarter in Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. The C's great appeared to have suffered a significant injury, but he hopped back onto the court minutes later and helped Boston finish off the win.
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We've never gotten a straightforward explanation of why Pierce needed the wheelchair. Some have speculated Pierce wasn't actually hurt and simply needed a bathroom break. During a Showtime basketball interview with Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Jayson Tatum, and Marcus Smart, Brown wanted to get to the bottom of it.
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“I want to know what happened in the playoffs when you had to get in the wheelchair,” Brown told Pierce.
“I sprained my MCL," Pierce answered. "Don’t believe all them rumors that I had to go to the bathroom. ...
“The doctor said ‘no, no, no, don’t put no weight on it.’ I’m like alright, I’m going to stand up. He’s like don’t put no weight on it. Then they carried me. I didn’t ask for that. I didn’t say go get the wheelchair. ...
“I stood up, and I was like ‘Man, let me see how this feels. Alright, alright. It’s cool, it’s cool.' I’m back out there. They didn’t let me put no weight on it, so when I put the weight on it I knew I was cool. I was like alright, I’m good, give me the knee brace because it felt kind of loose.”
That explanation didn't seem to convince Brown, who couldn't hold back his laughter while Garnett egged on his former C's teammate. Pierce once confessed he did indeed need to use the bathroom, so whether that story or the sprained MCL one is true remains anyone's guess.
You can watch the full interview with the Celtics stars of past and present below:
