Paul Pierce to return for 19th season, then retire

— -- L.A. Clippers?forward Paul Pierce announced Monday via The Players' Tribune that he will return for his 19th season then retire.

"This is it, my final season," Pierce wrote. "It's time to move on from the game of basketball. Just like any difficult decision, I think you've got to be at peace with yourself. I'm at peace with retiring, but I've got one more ride left. One more season. One more opportunity."

Earlier this month, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said that 38-year-old Paul Pierce was on the fence about returning for his another season but believed that Pierce has something left in the tank.

Pierce played the first 15 seasons of his career in Boston, nine of them for Rivers.

Rivers brought in Pierce to Los Angeles last season as a veteran presence with knowledge of how to win an NBA championship, hoping he would be the final piece to push the Clippers over the top. But injuries to Blake Griffin and Chris Paul led to a first-round postseason exit.

Pierce has averaged 20.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in his career. After his Boston tenure, he spent one season with the Brooklyn Nets, another with the Washington Wizards and last year with the Clippers. He posted only 6.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game last season.

"With the Clippers, in the city where I grew up, I feel like I have that opportunity on a great team,"?Pierce wrote Monday. "We're hungry. We want to win a championship.

"After 18 NBA years, it's hard to believe I'll be playing in each arena for the last time. So I'm going to enjoy every practice, every bus ride, every team dinner, every time running out through the tunnel. I'm going to do my part to give us a shot at the ultimate goal."

Pierce was the No. 10 pick out of Kansas in the 1998 NBA draft. The 10-time All-Star is currently 16th on the NBA all-time scoring list with 26,316 points.

"I've been in the NBA 18 years, but I've been playing basketball like 30 years," Pierce said Monday. "It's hard to walk away from that, but like most homes you get that 30-year mortgage. I've paid it off, so it's time to ride off into the sunset."