Paul Pierce, the ex-Boston Celtics star considered one of the best players of his generation, has launched a new cannabis brand in Massachusetts under the name Truth, a play on the nickname Shaquille O’Neal gave the star during his playing days (“The Truth”).

Products under the Truth product banner will enter the marijuana marketplace in late 2021, including concentrates, edibles and lotions. In 2022, Pierce plans to release his own brand of flower. Pierce is launching the brand with marijuana operator The Hub Craft.

Pierce played 15 years in Boston. He ranks among the greatest Celtics of all time. That includes leading the team in most three-pointers, most steals and most free throws. He is second only to John Havlicek in all-time points with 24,021.

“I have such a great connection with Boston, so I’m excited to bring the brand there first and educate people on the plant — how it can help in everyday life and also in sports and recovery,”  Pierce told the Boston Globe

Pierce Recently Lost His Job With ESPN

Pierce made the announcement of his new brand just a few months after ESPN fired him after Pierce live-streamed a video that appeared to show him smoking weed while dancers twerked in the background. It never seemed clear if Disney, which owns ESPN, fired him for the use of weed or because the video ran against the grain of the company’s family-focused business model.

Whatever the case, Pierce began to Tweet soon after that he had plans for bigger things. In the four-second video that came with the message, all Pierce did was smile and laugh. More than 1.3 million people watched it.

Pierce told the Globe that what people don’t realize because of the ESPN firing is that cannabis is much more than just recreational to him. Pierce said cannabis helped him get over a stabbing he suffered in 2000.

Cannabis Helped Pierce Heal After Nightclub Attack

In 2000, while playing for the Celtics, a man attacked Pierce in a Boston nightclub with a broken bottle. The attack nearly killed Pierce and left him psychologically scarred. He played the season, but suffered from many symptoms related to PTSD – paranoia, sleeplessness, depression and anxiety.

Pierce told the Globe that drugs prescribed by team doctors didn’t help. He also worried about what they might do to his body. He turned to medical marijuana. He said it allowed him to sleep. He had to use cannabis only when he could avoid league drug testing.

The NBA stopped testing for marijuana in players last year. Former players have long urged the change. Meanwhile, a quarter of NBA fans said they use cannabis.

Pierce told the Globe: “It’s a blessing that the world is finally catching up. They don’t know what us athletes go through — our bodies and our mental state of mind.”