Paul Pierce Toughness

One of my best qualities is my ability to kick people when they're up. For instance, after they hit a game-winning shot. Another quality I have is my hatred for people who I once defended and then have drastically disappointed me. Paul Pierce is such a character.

I thought Pierce was just about the toughest guy around after he was stabbed like 9 times several years ago. I told anybody who would listen, "Hey, this guy's tough!" Oh, has time proven me wrong to an embarrassing degree. There were those seasons when the Celtics were terrible and Pierce just didn't feel like playing.

Then, of course, there was the infamous display during Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals, which saw Pierce rolling around in pain and being wheeled off the court. A few minutes later, he trotted onto the court apparently miraculously healed. Pierce must have sent money to the 700 Club or something. In reality, he was carted off after sustaining a boo boo. Even in this year's playoffs, he was rolling around hurt at one point, only to get up. His teammates tried to act like they didn't know him.

That takes us to Manu Ginobili and Brandon Roy. Ginobili's nose was destroyed by Dirk Nowitzki's elbow last night. Between that incident and stealing some of Carl Landy's teeth, Dirk's elbow must be made of iron. Anyway, Ginobili missed all of 5 minutes of game action, despite the fact that his nose was twisted, bloody, and swollen. Roy had surgery for a torn meniscus eight days ago and is active for today's game. Both Ginobili and Roy are as tough as they come and do this game proud.