Pierce was a high school McDonald's All-American and earned consensus first-team All-America honors in his junior year at Kansas.

In 2021, Pierce was honored by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

After one season with the Wizards, Pierce signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, reuniting him with former Celtics head coach Doc Rivers.

On July 17, 2017, the Celtics signed Pierce to a contract, enabling him to retire as a member of the organization with which he spent his first 15 NBA seasons.

During the summer of 1996, Pierce earned a spot on the roster of the USA's Under 22 team and helped the United States go undefeated in the World Championship-qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico.

[10] Prior to the 2007–08 season, the Celtics acquired the services of fellow NBA All-Stars Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.

The Celtics completed the largest single-season turnaround in NBA history, with the "Big Three" leading Boston to 66 wins in the regular season, a 42-game improvement.

On June 5, 2008, in Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Pierce was injured in the third quarter and was carried off the court appearing to be in serious pain.

At the 2010 NBA All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Pierce became the first Celtic since Larry Bird to win the Three-Point Contest.

On June 29, 2010, Pierce opted out of his contract and invoked his early termination clause to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2010.

In the second round, the Celtics took on the Miami Heat and their big three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.

On June 28, 2013, the day of the NBA draft, the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets reached a deal to trade Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry for future first-round picks in the 2014, 2016, and 2018 drafts and Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace, Kris Joseph, MarShon Brooks, and Keith Bogans.

[23] At an introductory press conference with Garnett and Terry following the trade, Pierce stated, "We are championship driven... We made a lot of money in our careers.

[29][30] With 14 points against the Atlanta Hawks on November 25, 2014, Pierce passed Jerry West for 17th place on the NBA's career scoring list.

[31] Two weeks later, Pierce passed Reggie Miller for 16th place on the NBA's career scoring list with a season-high 28 points against the Boston Celtics.

[32] On January 14, 2015, Pierce passed Jason Kidd for fourth all-time in three-pointers made in a 105–99 win over the Chicago Bulls.

On May 9, 2015, Pierce made a two-point shot with three defenders on him at the buzzer to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 103–101 and take a 2–1 series lead in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

The shot swished, apparently tying the score at the buzzer, but the play was reviewed, showing the clock expired before Pierce released the basketball.

[40][41] He made his debut for the Clippers in the team's season opener against the Sacramento Kings on October 28, recording 12 points and 7 rebounds off the bench in a 111–104 win.

[42] With Lance Stephenson starting at small forward, Pierce began the season as a role player off the bench for the first time in his career.

[45] In what would be his last game in Boston, on February 5, 2017, Pierce started and played the first five minutes before heading to the bench—it was his first appearance for the Clippers since New Year's Eve.

[53] His jersey was raised to the rafters of TD Garden in a postgame ceremony following the Celtics-Cavaliers game, becoming the 23rd person in Celtics history to be honored.

[56] Pierce was also selected for the United States national team for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, but did not compete because of minor off-season surgery.

"[65][66] In March 2024, Pierce joined FS1 as a basketball analyst in a contributor role for the sports talk show Undisputed, hosted by commentator Skip Bayless.

[67][68] Following the departure of Skip Bayless and the discontinuation of Undisputed in August 2024, Pierce moved to the sports talk show Speak.

"[77] In August 2018, Pierce discussed battling depression for a year after his stabbing, revealing that he dealt with paranoia over crowds and post-traumatic stress stemming from the incident.

"[80][81] In January 2022, in a class-action lawsuit filed against the cryptocurrency company EthereumMax that alleged the company is a pump and dump scheme, Pierce was named as a defendant along with media personality Kim Kardashian, former professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., and other celebrities for promoting the EthereumMax token on their social media accounts.

[82][83] In February 2022, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a lawsuit against Bitconnect that the Securities Act of 1933 extends to targeted solicitation using social media.

[84] In December 2022, Central California U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald dismissed the lawsuit on the basis that the claims were insufficiently supported given heightened pleading standards for fraud.

[85] On the March 19, 2024, episode of Extended Family, entitled "The Consequences of Being Irish," Pierce played himself at a fictional Boston Celtics fundraising event.