Retired Celtics forward Paul Pierce says he battled depression for a year after he was stabbed 11 times at a Boston nightclub in 2000.
“The only thing that saved me was basketball,” Pierce told ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan.
The 2000 incident required emergency surgery to repair a collapsed lung before the start of Pierce’s third NBA season. The forward recovered to play all 82 games that year, averaging 25.3 points per game, but he said he continued to privately struggle. Although the Celtics encouraged him to seek counseling, Pierce opted to manage his anxiety on his own, saying he “didn’t want anybody else in [his] business.