Paul Pierce immortalized as Boston Celtics retire his No. 34

Former Boston Celtics Paul Pierce holds the NBA championship trophy that he won with the team during a ceremony to retire his number following a basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Boston, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Former Boston Celtics Paul Pierce holds the NBA championship trophy that he won with the team during a ceremony to retire his number following a basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Boston, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

From this day forward no member of the Boston Celtics will ever again wear No. 34.

That number will forever be associated with the name Paul Pierce and hang in the rafters above the Celtics’ signature parquet floor, with the likes of Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale.

The best NBA player from Kansas since Wilt Chamberlain, Pierce officially became a legend Sunday in Boston, when the franchise with 17 championships retired his jersey.

“Words can’t even describe it right now,” Pierce told reporters on the eve of the ceremony.

“When I got to this day, I was like, ‘It came so fast.’ I remember like yesterday the day Wyc (Grousbeck, co-owner of the Celtics) called me and was like, ‘We want to retire your jersey.’ And I’m like, ‘Really? It happened already?'” recalled Pierce, currently in his first year of retirement. “Just to see and be with all the people who helped me on this journey, to get to this point to where I finally put a close on my career and leave a legacy here in Boston, it’s just good to bring all those people in one room. Because it wasn’t just me by myself to get to this point.”