Pierce to TMZ: "I plan on playing ten more years dude"

As we noted the other day, the addition of future Hall of Famers --and legitimate celebrities-- Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce raises the Nets to another level in the gossip hierarchy. Doesn't hurt that Jason Kidd is the coach. The other day, it was KG taking his daughter to a birthday party for Matthew McConaughey's daughter. Tuesday, it was a TMZ ambush interview with Pierce in an L.A. parking lot.

35-year-old Pierce was leaving a grocery store in L.A. with a bunch of water (it's important to hydrate) when we asked how he felt about being traded from the Celtics to the Brooklyn Nets this late in his prolific career.

Paul's reaction was CLASSIC -- "Who says it's the end of my career? I plan on playing ten more years dude."

TMZ, one of our top basketball sites, notes that "no one in the modern NBA era has played until the age of 45 (Dikembe Mutombo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played until they were 42)."

• Paul Pierce -- My Career Ain't Over ... I'm Playing Another TEN YEARS!!! (Video) - TMZ
• Paul Pierce Says He Plans to Play 10 More Years When Asked About Late-Career Trade to Nets (Video) - NESN