The Boston Herald takes us back in time, to the day Pierce torched Shaq’s Lakers for 42 points in a loss and earned himself a nickname: 

“Late one night some 9 years ago, it took the Big Chairman of the Board just a moment to launch a nickname that would [bad word] Paul Pierce’s brand… 

Shaq was finishing up with a few reporters when he spotted the Boston writer and broke away from his pack. He then launched into [bad word] rant about Pierce, squeezing in his favorite maternal expletive between ‘The’ and [bad word] ’ Pulling a reporter aside, he shook his head and said, ‘Paul Pierce.’ 

Paul Pierce what? 

Leaning toward the notepad, he said, ‘Take this down. My name is Shaquille O’Neal, and Paul Pierce is the [bad word] [bad word]  Quote me on that, and don’t take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn’t know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the [bad word] ’