Antoine Walker Casts Pick For Celtics’ All-Time Best Pure Scorer

The Celtics haven’t had a shortage of superstars who graced the parquet floor on Causeway Street, and those franchise legends paved the way for the 17 championship banners that hang from the Garden rafters.

But out of all of the players who have donned a Boston uniform in the organization’s storied history, who is the best pure scorer?

That topic was analyzed on the debut episode of NESN’s “Hold My Banner” podcast. Host Travis Thomas was joined by three-time All-Star Antoine Walker, who played nine-plus of his 12 NBA seasons with the Celtics. Two years after Boston selected Walker with the sixth overall pick in the 1996 draft, the C’s linked the Kentucky product with an elite running mate: franchise icon Paul Pierce.

In Walker’s eyes, Pierce is the best pure scorer Boston has ever seen. The 2006 NBA champion marveled at his former teammate’s wide range of ways to stuff the stat sheet. Between his ability to attack the rack and his terrific mid-range game, Pierce was a nightmare for defenders in the prime years of his Celtics career.

Of course, Pierce is not a runaway selection in this debate. It didn’t take current franchise cornerstone Jayson Tatum very long to establish himself as one of the NBA’s premier scorers. Tatum stormed out of the gate after the Celtics selected him third overall in 2017, and he’s been prompting tweaks to the franchise record books ever since.

That Larry Bird fellow was pretty darn good, too. The Basketball Hall of Famer has a hoops résumé that’s drenched with the league’s most prestigious accolades, most notably a trio of NBA championships.

So, how does Walker stack Tatum and Bird up against Pierce? You can check out the segment in the “Hold My Banner” YouTube video embedded above.