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Ricky Pierce

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Ricky Pierce
Personal information
Born (1959-08-19) August 19, 1959 (age 65)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High schoolGarland (Garland, Texas)
College
NBA draft1982: 1st round, 18th overall pick
Selected by the Detroit Pistons
Playing career1982–1998
PositionShooting guard / small forward
Number22, 25, 21
Career history
1982–1983Detroit Pistons
1983–1984San Diego Clippers
1984–1991Milwaukee Bucks
1991–1994Seattle SuperSonics
1994–1995Golden State Warriors
1995–1996Indiana Pacers
1996–1997Denver Nuggets
1997Charlotte Hornets
1997AEK Athens
1997–1998Milwaukee Bucks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points14,467 (14.9 ppg)
Rebounds2,296 (2.4 rpg)
Assists1,826 (1.9 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Richard Charles Pierce (born August 19, 1959) is an American retired National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Nicknamed "Deuces" and "Big Paper Daddy",[1][2] he was selected as an NBA All-Star (1991) and was twice the NBA Sixth Man of the Year (1987, 1990) while with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Career beginnings

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Pierce graduated from Garland High School in Dallas County, Texas. He later played basketball at Walla Walla Community College and Rice University.[3]

Pierce is first in Rice history in career scoring average at 22.5 points per game, while he is third all time in total points scored and second in total field goals made. His 1981–82 season of 26.8 points, 314 field goals made, and 614 field goals attempted are also school single season records.[4]

NBA

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Detroit Pistons

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Pierce was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 1st round (18th pick) of the 1982 NBA draft. Used sparingly in his rookie season, he was traded to the San Diego Clippers immediately prior to the 1983-84 NBA season for two future 2nd round draft picks.

San Diego Clippers

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Pierce became a rotation regular during his one season with the Clippers, averaging 9.9 points and 18.6 minutes per game. He started 35 games during the season, highlighted by a then-career-high 30-point performance against San Antonio in his first start as a Clipper.

Milwaukee Bucks

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Pierce was traded by the San Diego Clippers before the 1984–85 season along with Terry Cummings to the Milwaukee Bucks. The trade, which also brought Craig Hodges to Milwaukee, while sending veterans Junior Bridgeman and Marques Johnson (both would eventually have their jerseys retired in Milwaukee) to the Clippers, is viewed as having worked much better for the Bucks than the Clippers.[5]

Pierce was reunited with his coach at Rice, Mike Schuler, who was then an assistant coach for the Bucks. Pierce would go on to average 17 points per game over the next 6 full seasons in Milwaukee, despite starting only 46 games in that time.

On March 13, 1985, Pierce scored 22 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and recorded 6 assists in a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers.[6] Pierce and the Bucks would go on to beat Michael Jordan and the Bulls 3–1 in the first round of the playoffs, before being upset by the lower seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.[7]

Pierce won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award for 1986–87 for averaging 19.5 points per game with a 53.4% shooting percentage in his third season with the Bucks. That same postseason, on May 8, 1987, Pierce led the Bucks with 29 points off the bench in a Game 3 victory against Boston Celtics, however, Boston would ultimately win the series.[8] During the 1989 NBA Playoffs, on May 2, Pierce led the Bucks to 117-113 Game 3 victory over the Atlanta Hawks with a team-high 35 points.[9] The Bucks would win the series 3–2, before being eliminated in the next round by the eventual-champion Pistons.

The following season, Pierce earned the Sixth Man award again, averaging 23.0 points per game without starting a single one (an NBA record)[10] in 1989–90. That season, on November 9, 1989, Pierce played a key role in the longest game in the shot clock era, at four hours and 17 minutes, scoring a team leading 36 points on 15 of 21 shooting, during a 155-154 5OT win.[11][12][13] On December 5, Pierce scored a career-high 45 points in a loss against the Sacramento Kings.[14] In the week preceding the 1991 trade deadline, the Bucks traded Pierce to the Seattle SuperSonics for Dale Ellis.

When asked about referring to himself as a “hired gun” in relation to being a designated scorer who bounced around on several teams, Pierce said “The teams would let you know that you were hired to play a certain role. That was the role that I took on, my strength, my scoring ability. That was what I focused on. One time, in the middle of a game, I was passing the ball a lot. Coach Don Nelson called a timeout. He told me ‘I have Paul Pressey to pass. Your job is to score the ball.’ I thought that was kind of cool. I really liked that.”[15]

Seattle Supersonics

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Pierce became a regular starter in the 1991–92 season, his first full season with the Sonics. He made 75 consecutive free throws through several games in November–December 1991, the second-longest such streak at that time. The same year, in 1992, Pierce led Seattle in scoring during both the regular and post seasons.[16] In the 1993 NBA playoffs, Pierce led the Sonics to 103-100 Game 7 win in the conference semifinals over the Houston Rockets with a game-leading 25 points.[17] In the next round, Pierce, alongside teammates Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, lost in seven games to the Phoenix Suns, narrowly missing an NBA Finals appearance. Pierce returned to the bench for 1993–94 following Seattle's off-season acquisition of Kendall Gill.

Golden State Warriors

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On July 18, 1994, Pierce was traded along with Carlos Rogers and two draft picks to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Byron Houston and Sarunas Marciulionis. Pierce battled foot and back injuries during the season and was only able to see action in 27 games.

Indiana Pacers

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Prior to the 1995–96 season, Pierce signed with the Indiana Pacers as an unrestricted free agent. Healthy once more, Pierce appeared in 76 games, and after starting only 2 games all season, he started 4 of the Pacers' 5 first round playoff games, contributing 10.2 points and 3.0 assists per game.

Denver Nuggets

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Indiana traded Pierce to the Denver Nuggets before the start of 1996–97 season, sending Mark Jackson and a 1st round draft pick to the Nuggets in exchange for Jalen Rose, Reggie Williams, and the Nuggets' 1st round pick. In February, with the Nuggets out of the playoff picture, Pierce was traded to the Charlotte Hornets for Anthony Goldwire and George Zidek.

Charlotte Hornets

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Pierce played an expanded role with the playoff-bound Hornets, starting 17 of the final 29 games and averaging 12 points per game. In the playoffs, Pierce started the first 2 games of the Hornets' series with the New York Knicks and contributed 11 points off the bench in the third, which would be his final playoff game as a player.

AEK BC Athens, return to the Bucks and retirement

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Without a contract for the 1997–98 season, Pierce signed to play with AEK B.C. Athens, a Greek professional team and one of the best in the country. Pierce played five games with AEK before signing as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks in December 1997. On December 19, Pierce scored 13 points in a 92–91 loss against the Toronto Raptors.[18] He retired from basketball at the end of the season.

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1982–83 Detroit 39 1 6.8 .375 .143 .563 .9 .4 .2 .1 2.2
1983–84 San Diego 69 35 18.6 .470 .000 .861 2.0 .9 .4 .2 9.9
1984–85 Milwaukee 44 3 20.0 .537 .250 .823 2.7 2.1 .8 .1 9.8
1985–86 Milwaukee 81 8 26.5 .538 .130 .858 2.9 2.2 1.0 .1 13.9
1986–87 Milwaukee 79 31 31.7 .534 .107 .880 3.4 1.8 .8 .3 19.5
1987–88 Milwaukee 37 0 26.1 .510 .214 .877 2.2 2.0 .6 .2 16.4
1988–89 Milwaukee 75 4 27.7 .518 .222 .859 2.6 2.1 1.0 .3 17.6
1989–90 Milwaukee 59 0 29.0 .510 .346 .839 2.8 2.3 .8 .1 23.0
1990–91 Milwaukee 46 0 28.8 .499 .398 .907 2.5 2.1 .8 .2 22.5
Seattle 32 0 26.3 .463 .391 .925 2.3 2.3 .7 .1 17.5
1991–92 Seattle 78 78 34.1 .475 .268 .916 3.0 3.1 1.1 .3 21.7
1992–93 Seattle 77 72 28.8 .489 .372 .889 2.5 2.9 1.3 .1 18.2
1993–94 Seattle 51 0 20.0 .471 .188 .896 1.6 1.8 .8 .1 14.5
1994–95 Golden State 27 6 24.9 .437 .329 .877 2.4 1.5 .8 .1 12.5
1995–96 Indiana 76 2 18.5 .447 .337 .849 1.8 1.3 .8 .1 9.7
1996–97 Denver 33 10 18.2 .462 .308 .902 1.6 .9 .4 .2 10.2
Charlotte 27 17 24.1 .502 .536 .889 2.5 1.8 .5 .1 12.0
1997–98 Milwaukee 39 0 11.3 .364 .308 .827 1.2 .9 .2 .0 3.9
Career 969 269 24.4 .493 .322 .875 2.4 1.9 .8 .2 14.9
All-Star 1 0 19.0 .500 – 1.000 2.0 2.0 .0 .0 9.0

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1985 Milwaukee 8 1 24.8 .493 .000 .778 2.3 1.9 .4 .1 9.9
1986 Milwaukee 13 0 24.8 .460 .000 .889 2.8 1.5 .6 .2 11.1
1987 Milwaukee 12 2 26.4 .479 – .821 2.3 1.3 .8 .4 15.9
1988 Milwaukee 5 0 21.0 .472 .200 .889 2.8 1.8 .2 .4 11.8
1989 Milwaukee 9 0 32.4 .546 .750 .872 2.8 2.8 1.2 .2 22.3
1990 Milwaukee 4 0 30.5 .467 .500 .903 2.3 1.5 1.3 .0 22.3
1991 Seattle 5 0 22.4 .333 .300 .941 2.8 .8 .8 .2 11.4
1992 Seattle 9 9 35.1 .481 .273 .870 2.4 3.1 .6 .1 19.6
1993 Seattle 19 19 30.4 .456 .400 .898 2.4 2.2 .6 .2 17.7
1994 Seattle 5 0 14.8 .452 – .706 1.0 .6 .2 .0 8.0
1996 Indiana 5 4 26.6 .340 .250 .850 .8 3.0 1.6 .2 10.2
1997 Charlotte 3 2 29.0 .458 .143 – 2.7 1.3 .7 .0 7.7
Career 97 37 27.4 .466 .355 .866 2.4 1.9 .7 .2 14.9

Post playing career

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Since retiring, Pierce has developed his own basketball system that assists with shooting accuracy with specially-designed fingertip-placement markers.[19] Pierce developed the idea after watching his son, Aron, playing basketball at the YMCA. Pierce was giving advice to parents on how to teach their kids the perfect jump shot.[20] A product would later be developed known as the Accushot22, a specially designed basketball with 10 oval indentations.[20] The product sells for $37.95, although hundreds are given away free to underprivileged children.[20]

In 2015, Pierce was inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame, becoming only the third Rice basketball player to be inducted.[4]

Personal life

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Pierce is a Christian.[21] Pierce is married to Joyce Pierce.[22] They have three children.[23]

Pierce returned to Rice University to complete his degree, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in kinesiology in May 2012.[24]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Ricky Pierce Nicknames
  2. ^ Ricky Pierce
  3. ^ "Bellaire, River Oaks, West U".
  4. ^ a b Pierce Named to Southwest Conference Hall of Fame
  5. ^ "No. 9 — Terry Cummings, Ricky Pierce, Craig Hodges".
  6. ^ "Cleveland Cavaliers at Milwaukee Bucks Box Score, March 13, 1985".
  7. ^ "1984-85 Milwaukee Bucks Roster and Stats".
  8. ^ "Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks Box Score, May 8, 1987".
  9. ^ 1989 NBA Eastern Conference First Round Game 3
  10. ^ "Player Season Finder: Games Started = 0; sorted by descending Points Per Game". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  11. ^ "Bucks Defeat SuperSonics in 5 Overtimes". The New York Times. November 10, 1989.
  12. ^ "That time the Bucks beat the SuperSonics in a marathon". Sports of Yore. November 4, 2019.
  13. ^ "Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle Sonics stage 5OT classic". NBA.com.
  14. ^ "Milwaukee Bucks at Sacramento Kings Box Score, December 5, 1989".
  15. ^ "Ricky Pierce Q&A: Signing Autographs in High School, Massive Television Room, Finishing Games". April 18, 2021.
  16. ^ 1991-92 Seattle SuperSonics
  17. ^ 1993 NBA Western Conference Semifinals Game 7
  18. ^ "Milwaukee Bucks at Toronto Raptors Box Score, December 19, 1997".
  19. ^ Shoot like All-Star? Ricky Pierce says no problem by Kate Hairopoulos, The Dallas Morning News, September 11, 2006.
  20. ^ a b c Sports Illustrated, July 2, 2007, p. 118.
  21. ^ "accushot22basketball". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  22. ^ "Joyce Pierce". Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  23. ^ Mannix, Chris. "RICKY PIERCE". Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  24. ^ Rice's 99th Commencement Included Over 100 Student-Athletes riceowls.com, May 12, 2012
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