Los Angeles Clipper, head coach Doc Rivers, center, poses team players, from left, Branden Dawson, 22, DeAndre Jordan, 6, Austin Rivers, 25, Josh Smith, 5, Cole Aldrich, 45, Paul Pierce, 34, and Wesley Johnson, 33, far right, at at a news conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, July 21, 2015. The Clippers managed to keep DeAndre Jordan after he changed his mind about his verbal commitment to Dallas Mavericks. They offered everything he wanted, including a fresh start and a bigger offensive role. When Jordan thought about it a little more, the craziest free-agent recruitment story in recent NBA history ended with him back on the Los Angeles Clippers. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

With 17 NBA seasons, 1,250 regular-season games and 158 playoff contests in his rear-view mirror, veteran Paul Pierce only had one thing in mind when he hit free agency this summer: getting back to the NBA Finals.

Pierce, Boston’s 2008 Finals MVP, reunited with former Celtics coach Doc Rivers and made his first public appearance as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers at a Tuesday press conference in L.A.

“This is probably the last ride of my
career,” said Pierce, a first-team
All-American at Kansas in 1998. “I
think this is where I’m going to end
it, so I’m going to go all in. And if
we can win a championship here for the
Clippers, this will be everything for
me.”

Paul Pierce: "I think this is where I’m going to end it, so I’m going to go all in." → http://t.co/3EInsokQGd pic.twitter.com/DpGrNwfRQZ

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) July 22, 2015

At 37 (Pierce will turn 38 before the season begins), “The Truth” realizes he only has so much basketball left in those legs — even if his new contact is for three years and reportedly $10 million.

“I see the light at the end of the
tunnel,” said the aging small forward,
who opted out of his contract with
Washington to head west. “I want
another opportunity to win a
championship. I thought just being
here would be a great fit.”

Pierce was only one of seven Clippers players at the Q & A. While the 10-time all-star and almost-Maverick DeAndre Jordan dominated the press conference, L.A.’s new backup center Cole Aldrich got a little mic time, too.

The former KU big man spent his fourth and fifth seasons with the Knicks, a team that had the Eastern Conference’s worst record (17-65) in 2014-15.

Lights, camera, freshness! Lookin' good @colea45!

“You know, going from New York last
year, where we struggled, to being on
a contending team, it’s going to be
awesome,” the 6-foot-11 Aldrich said.
“You’ve got a bunch of guys that are
going to come in every day and work
hard and have fun doing it. And that’s
the biggest thing is we’re a family.”

Joining the Clippers has to feel even more like home for Pierce, and not just because he grew up in nearby Inglewood, California.

“I played with Doc longer than any
coach I ever played for in my career,”
Pierce said, referencing their nine
seasons together in Boston.
“Definitely comfortable being around
him, being with him. So that really
helps out, especially when you go into
a new situation, being around things
you’re comfortable with.”

Content to play either as a small forward or an undersized stretch-power forward (as he did for the Wizards in the playoffs) with L.A., Pierce anticipates Rivers limiting his minutes throughout the season and even keeping him out of some games in order to keep the team’s elder statesmen feeling a little younger when the postseason comes.

It would be 'storybook' if Paul Pierce can cement his legacy with the Clippers' first title. http://t.co/BgGxmPp7EV pic.twitter.com/szfwCQLCg9

— NBA.com (@NBAcom) July 22, 2015

The NBA’s fifth-leading active scorer (25,899 career points) knows the Clippers don’t need him to be an offensive focal point, considering L.A. has all-stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, and Jordan serving as its big three. Pierce simply wants to be a veteran voice in the locker room and do whatever Rivers asks of him.

“I feel I can just be that,” Pierce
said. “Kind of like a glue guy.”

That might be just what the Clippers need, after falling apart in the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs, despite a 3-1 lead over Houston (and a sizable second-half lead in a closeout Game 6). Pierce told NBA.com’s Ian Thomsen he watched that collapse closely, because he knew at the time he would either be playing for L.A. or D.C. next season.

Star shooter @paulpierce34 knew before anyone that he would don an @LAClippers uniform: http://t.co/DmYFv3VCRj pic.twitter.com/4fhrRkAAeJ

— NBA.com (@NBAcom) July 22, 2015

“No way — if I was in that locker room
— I would have allowed that to
happen,” Pierce said. “You picture
yourself being that voice or being
that guy on the court that can help in
those situations. I think I fill a
pretty big need for them.”

The Clippers have never even reached a conference final, let alone the NBA Finals. But with Paul, Griffin, Jordan, J.J. Redick, Jamal Crawford, Lance Stephenson and L.A.’s other role players, Pierce thinks his new team has all the pieces it needs.

“There are five or six teams that can
win it all,” Pierce said, “and it
boils down to how you come together
and whoever is the healthiest.”

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