And Pierce takes nothing for granted. This week the Celtics start another season in which many, perhaps even most, have picked them to return to the NBA Finals, but Pierce isn't going to let anticipation and expectation ruin his immediate enjoyment.

The Celtics , with their joking, bobbing and weaving during timeouts, are one of the loosest teams in the NBA. Pierce is right there in the middle of the rave-up.

Three seasons ago he was the brooding leader of a 24-win team, often in self-imposed isolation at the end of the bench when not on the floor.

So he's drinking up every second now.

``When you get to play on this kind of team, you cherish it,'' he recently said. ``You don't take these moments for granted, playing with guys like Kevin (Garnett) and Rasheed (Wallace), future Hall of Famers. You know, I cherish these moments because not a lot of people get that opportunity. I thought I'd never get that opportunity.

``It's always disappointing when you lose a lot of ballgames. You wake up in the morning, and you know your team is 15 games out of the playoffs. The thing about me is that I'm always motivated because I love the game of Basketball.

``I love the game so much that it rarely got me down when I was out there playing on the court. I take pride in that. I'm a competitor. I play this game to win. If you don't play to win, then what are you playing for? Some guys play for the lifestyle, and a lot of those guys don't last. Me, I've always played to try to win.

``You appreciate it more when you play with these type of players. Nothing surprises me. The camaraderie doesn't surprise me, because I know what type of guys we have here.''

The type who show up in the summer long before anything is required, for instance. Coach Doc Rivers told his players to stay home for the summer following their 2008 title, but in readying for this season everyone -- newcomers Wallace and Marquis Daniels included -- converged on Waltham in August.

``It's been (like that) the last two years, since the trade (for Garnett) went through,'' Pierce said. ``It gave guys a reason, because they knew they had a special team. Probably (would not have happened) four or five years ago. Now you know you're going to be around here a lot longer.

``It's not that way on a team that's always losing. You look at the Celtics , you see all the banners, you see the players who have come out of here. You don't think of the Celtics as a team that is consistently in the lottery. This organization has so much respect and so much history.

``You look at a lot of other organizations and they don't have the kind of (success) that I think we have. After so many years not being in the playoffs, the owners took over and said, 'We're going to get back to the playoffs and we're going to make the Celtics a contender.' ''

Those penurious days of the Paul Gaston era -- the former Celtics owner would have been right at home with the league's trend of cutting roster spots to save money -- are starting to fade from Pierce's memory. But not so much that he doesn't remember the characters.

``It definitely feels like it's changed a lot,'' he said. ``Whenever I talk to the guys about the players that I played with, the guys can't believe it. They're like, 'You played with him?' Some of the guys I played against are out of the league. Dana Barros is one of those guys I tell them about. Rodney Rogers, Tony Delk, guys like that.

``It's changed because of the new owners. When they took over the team, everything changed from the way players were treated, to the way everything should be run. Just a first-class organization. It's just their presence at the game. They're guys from Boston, and they just want us to win. You can feel good about being a part of that kind of organization.

``It's a class organization. They just make sure we get everything that we need, man. We get our breakfast and our lunch most days. Guys are on top of their strength and conditioning. Guys just want to be around. It used to be that guys would leave for the summer, and you wouldn't see them until training camp.

``But guys just want to be around here now. Now you work out here and have the trainer year-round. Coaches are always around. That's the difference.''

The results couldn't be more evident.

``Now we have a chance to win a championship every year, and that's what the Celtics are all about,'' Pierce said. ``You have organizations like the Lakers, the Celtics , the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Those are the teams that consistently win championships.''

Pierce, at 31, can now live out this scenario as a late-career dream.

``I've definitely grown with the organization,'' he said. ``I'm in my 12th year now. I've definitely been humbled, going from rock bottom to winning the championship. There's been a lot of lows and highs, and when you go through that, you have to mature.

``It's a different feeling now, especially since I'm on the last part of my career. I know I'm not going to play another 12 years.

``With my ability, I could go another four or five years if I'm still in good shape. If I can continue to move and break things down, I can go another four or five years. We definitely help preserve each other. How Kevin goes, that's how my career goes, and vice versa. This could still go on for a while.''

--mrmurphy@bostonherald.com