Before Mark Daigneault was guiding a rising Oklahoma City Thunder team through the Western Conference gauntlet, before he became one of the NBA’s most respected young minds on the sidelines, he was just a kid in Massachusetts glued to the TV during the NBA Playoffs — hanging on every shot Paul Pierce took in Celtics green.
In our conversation, Daigneault’s face lit up as he traced back his first memory of the postseason: the drama, the weight of the moment, and how one player, in particular, seemed to defy it all.
“I was a Celtics fan,” Daigneault said. “So it was like the Paul Pierce’s Celtics and that’s kinda what I grew up on.”
That era — the early to mid-2000s — was defined by grit, clutch buckets, and a star who made TD Garden feel like church during playoff season. While Boston’s title run wouldn’t come until Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined the fold in 2007, Daigneault’s formative NBA memories were all about The Truth.
“I just felt like he made every shot that he needed to make at that time,” Daigneault continued. “He shot like 100 percent when he needed one. So that’s what I remember the most.”
For a coach now known for his composure and precision, it’s no surprise that a player like Pierce — known for late-game heroics and steely shot-making — made such a lasting impression.
What’s most interesting, though, is how that youthful admiration for the clutch gene has evolved into Daigneault’s current-day calm on the sideline — managing young talents like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren through their own pressure-packed playoff moments. There’s a symmetry in watching the next generation rise under a coach whose first taste of basketball drama came watching Pierce bury daggers from the elbow.
In many ways, Daigneault is channeling the cool of those Paul Pierce moments — not just in what he teaches, but in how he carries himself in the postseason spotlight. And somewhere deep in his coaching philosophy might be that childhood memory, where “he shot like 100 percent when he needed one” isn’t just about Pierce anymore — it’s what he now asks of his own players when the game’s on the line.
