They Don’t Love You Like That: ESPN Fires Paul Pierce After Drunken, Stripper-Filled IG Live

Paul Pierce has been fired from ESPN after a spicy Instagram live he gave to 300 viewers, in which he put gas in the air while strippers gave him massages.

Paul Pierce is an NBA legend and will, without a doubt, enter the Hall Of Fame at some point. He doesn’t really have to work anymore, but he has been an analyst for ESPN for the past couple of years because of his love for the game–and why not get the ESPN bag for just talking about hoops?

This week, Pierce hopped on Instagram Live to a crowd of 300 people and gave a look into his evening involving strippers, big backwoods, and liquor. This wild night resulted in EPSN firing Pierce, but according to the NY Post, Pierce was already on a downward spiral with ESPN…though he would have kept his job if he hadn’t aired the footage himself.

Pierce, 43, has been on a bit of a downward trajectory at ESPN but had hung on enough where he was a regular contributor to its top studio shows, “NBA Countdown” and “The Jump.” During a recent show, he went on the air and said the wrong team won. He was quickly corrected.

According to sources, ESPN was particularly miffed that Pierce chose to put the videos out of his own accord. If he had been filmed doing the same activities and they had been made public by someone else, he might have kept his job.

It doesn’t seem like Pierce is too worried about the firing as he laughed it off on social media and said “Big things are coming.”

Rumors also suggest Pierce could potentially be heading to a massive payday and a more relaxed environment at Barstool Sports. Barstool and Paul Pierce seem like a match made in heaven, to be honest, so this whole debacle could be a blessing in disguise.