Paul Pierce experienced basketball paradise during the 2007-08 season.
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The ten-time All-Star led the Boston Celtics to Banner 17 while taking home his Finals MVP honors. But The Truth recently revealed that it wasn’t even the highlight of his championship run because meeting former President Barack Obama in an empty Boston museum just overshadowed every single Championship highlight.
Doc Rivers orchestrated the secret meetup with surgical precision. The legendary coach told his squad they were heading to the Museum of Fine Arts for a team bonding activity. The entire roster thought Rivers had lost his mind scheduling an art museum visit during championship season because nobody had any idea what was coming next.
Paul Pierce Recalls Epic Meeting with Former President Barack Obama
Quite frankly, booking a museum to see the classic galleries was absolutely out of the syllabus thinking. And Rivers had been setting up everything extraordinary, excluding the place itself, so that the championship squad got no clue.
“We went to the museum as a team, and we’re thinking, ‘What’re we going to a museum for?'” Pierce said on the White Noise Podcast.
Just moments later, players’ math started mathing because the museum was completely shut down for the reigning NBA champions and America’s first Black president-elect.
“The museum was closed off. We hit the corner, and Obama is right there. We’re like, ‘Oh, damn.’ We had a meet and greet with Obama in an empty museum in Boston. We all took flicks, and I thought that was dope,” Pierce said.
Obama was riding the wave of becoming the first Black president in United States history. The Celtics were catching similar heat after ending a 22-year championship drought. The NBA had a longstanding tradition of champions visiting the White House, so Obama and the Big Three were destined to link up eventually.
But that surprise meeting happened in Boston at the Museum of Fine Arts, not Washington, D.C. Obama was there for a fundraiser and made time to hang out with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and the rest of the team.
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That encounter remains one of Pierce’s favorites and likely the only celebrity meet and greet he holds dear to his heart. And talking about Rivers, he developed a strong relationship over the years with Obama.
Just to recap, the two share Chicago roots and bonded over basketball and politics. Rivers famously sent Obama’s call to voicemail during the summer after the 2010 Finals loss to the Lakers. The president called to congratulate Rivers on the run, but the coach was too devastated to answer.
