ESPN fires NBA legend Paul Pierce after racy video showing him partying with STRIPPERS goes viral
ESPN fired NBA analyst and basketball legend Paul Pierce after he posted a video of himself partying with strippers without offering any apology to his fans.
The former NBA star was fired from his position as a top contributor on the shows NBA Countdown and The Jump after he posted a video himself smoking what appeared to be marijuana and dancing next to strippers.
He has yet to address his Saturday videos, instead posting to Twitter a tweet reading “Good morning.”
ESPN sources told the New York Post the network was particularly alarmed he himself posted the videos.
Should he have been filmed without his knowledge, he might still have a job, the insiders said.
The married, father-of-three faced criticism over the raunchy footage posted in the early hours of Saturday morning in which he received a neck massage from a bikini-clad woman.
Another woman twerked on the floor in the background as the 43-year-old ex-Boston Celtics player downed shots and smoked.
He and his friends appeared to be playing poker as they threw chips at the women dancing.
“Good morning,” Pierce tweeted just before 11pm EST on Saturday night, almost 24 hours after the controversial video.
According to the live stream, he is currently in Los Angeles which would have made it evening time when he sent the tweet.
The ESPN host didn’t acknowledge the footage which was widely shared on social media and only added a further tweet about the NCAA’s Final Four game.
“What a shot!!!! Omg Gonzaga,” he wrote of the epic finish which saw No. 1 Gonzaga defeat No. 11 UCLA.
Fans commented below asking for an explanation for Pierce’s antics the previous night.
“Not cool last night. You know better. You are a role model to people,” one wrote.
“You got some explaining to do,” another said.
“Bruh,” added Marcus Spears, a fellow analyst at ESPN.
Viewers had also commented on the live stream the night before, apparently trying to remind the NBA All-Star of his ten-year marriage.
“What does his wife think?” one asked.
Pierce appeared unfazed, however, as he interacted with the audience, telling one woman watching the stream, “You could make some money, girl.”
“Stop playing. … Monica, whatcha’ doing? If you’re in L.A., come through,” he added.
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“Paul Pierce woke up down $100k and with 12 voicemails from ESPN Human Resources,” NBA reporter Tyler Conway wrote.
Pierce, who has been an analyst for ESPN’s Get Up and The Jump, has been married to his wife Julie for ten years.
The couple first began dating during the All-Star weekend back in 2005 and have two daughters and a son.