We sat down with each of The Second Coming athletes to talk about the game. Today: Paul Pierce.

Check out Paul Pierce’s video interview along with the rest of The Second Coming at nikebasketball.com.

On his favorite court:
I grew up in Inglewood and there were numerous courts I grew up with…but there’s one particular court I remember better than any other. It was a court where I lived, it was in the alley, and there was a piece of wood…we put it up to a garage and we found a rim and nailed it to the garage. And we played on it every day. That was something special to me. And that’s where it all started…California, right there in Inglewood.

On the past:
When you look at the different eras, even starting at the 80s…every generation lays the foundation for the next generation. So when you look at what the 80s brought to the game…I think we come from the era where we see what they’ve done and we try to do what they’ve done. And then recreate that with the imagination, with the creativity of the players. When you talk about the 80s, you only had like one or two guys dunking from free throw…now, it seems like you have one guy on every team who can jump from the free throw line. The 80s really set a foundation for the generation of today. You see there’s more strength and conditioning in these players, they’re developing a lot faster because they’re seeing how the players were back then.

On his impact:
As a competitor, everybody wants to be recognized as one of the greatest players, or the greatest. But when I leave this game, I just want everybody to say, you know, he gave everything he had every night. He left his heart right there on the court each and every night, and that’s what he was all about. He was dedicated to the game, he respected the game and he gave his all.

On the future:
I just want to continue to go out and do the things I’m doing. And I want the players of the next generation to say, Paul Pierce really had a lot of respect for the game of basketball. When they talk about the integrity of the game, I want them to look at me and say, he really respected the game. He went out there like it was a job and left everything on the floor. And that’s what the game is all about. I’m not a guy who’s a crier or who demands a lot of attention. You know, he’s a guy who wears a hard hat, who comes to work, gets the job done and leaves.