ESPN has parted ways with NBA analyst Paul Pierce days after the NBA legend shared a controversial Instagram Live video over the weekend.
Reporters Ryan Glasspiegel and Michael McCarthy initially shared the news of Pierce's tenure with the company coming to an end Monday (April 5) evening citing "sources."
Minutes later, Pierce shared a three-second clip of himself on social media laughing with "#smile" included in the video and the caption, "Big Things coming soon stay tuned make sure u smile #Truthshallsetufree."
ESPN has yet to confirm the report as of Monday evening.
On Friday (April 2), the former NBA Finals MVP was shown in the video smoking and playing poker with friends as several strippers danced in the background.
At one point, Pierce, while being massaged by one woman, appears to address a female commenter by saying, "Monica, you should be here, you could make some money, girl. Stop playing. Monica, what you doing? If you're in L.A., come through."
The 43-year-old retired basketball player then pulled his phone out to get a wider shot, showing a woman twerking on the floor in the background.
Pierce has contributed to ESPN's NBA coverage on 'NBA Countdown' and 'The Jump' since retiring from his playing career in 2017.
The former NBA champion began as a regular studio analyst prior to the 2017-18 NBA season and had previously contributed to ESPN and ABC's 'NBA Countdown' coverage as a guest analyst during the final two seasons of his playing career as part of the 2016 and 2017 NBA Finals coverage.
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