Los Angeles Clippers: 15 players who defined Lob City

“The Truth” made his way to the Clippers at the end of his career, after reinventing himself with the Washington Wizards as a big-shot taker — and maker — in the postseason. On the Clippers, he was purported to be the piece they needed to win the close games in the playoffs they kept losing.

Paul Pierce signed with the Clippers in 2015, and suited up 105 times for the team. With Blake Griffin missing significant amounts of time during the 2016-17 season, Pierce started a number of games, but settled into a more complementary role than his days starring for the Boston Celtics.

The future Hall-of-Fame forward was a vocal leader on the team, part of squads that should have advanced further, but fell apart in big games. Pierce was unable to right the ship in that area, although that was hardly his fault, as key players on the Clippers suffered significant injuries in the postseason both years. The Clippers lost to the Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz in the first round in subsequent years leading into Pierce’s retirement.

Pierce’s most memorable contribution to the organization came during the summer of 2016, when Clippers center DeAndre Jordan was famously talked out of signing with the Dallas Mavericks.

To ensure the indecisive center re-signed with the Clippers, a number of front office personnel and players — including Pierce — stayed with Jordan throughout the night until midnight struck.

When NBA Twitter discovered the incident, it erupted into a live event, and Clippers players got into the fun by tweeting various transportation emoji and pictures to heighten the drama.

https://twitter.com/CP3/status/618851936888950784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E618851936888950784%7Ctwgr%5E373939313b73706563696669635f73706f7274735f616374696f6e&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Farticles%2F2719108-banana-boats-and-emoji-wars-the-day-deandre-jordan-turned-twitter-upside-down

The best tweet of the night came from the relative old man of the group in Pierce, who demonstrated either a wry wit or a lack of understanding on how to use Twitter when he tweeted a picture of a rocket, rather than simply an emoji:

Despite his limited time on the Clippers, he became a beloved part of the franchise and the crowds at Staples Center embraced him — perhaps both for his presence on the team and his work taking down the Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals. As the old man of “Lob City”, Pierce retired from the league the same time that “Lob City” was breaking up as well.