NBA legend Paul Pierce has admitted he is the father of a two-month-old baby who is at the center of a bitter paternity lawsuit filed by a woman back in January.
Court documents obtained by TMZ allegedly show the NBA champion told a court he is the biological father to King Rafael Santiago Pierce, whom he shares with Princess Santiago.
Not only did Pierce admit the child is his, the 48-year-old is now seeking joint legal and physical custody.
It comes less than a month after Pierce was reportedly asked to pay just under $30,000-a-month in child support by Santiago, an LA-based event coordinator, who wants the judge to grant her sole custody of the child.
She’s demanding $29,811 in child support every month, as well as $100,000 to cover her legal fees.
In addition, Santiago wants Pierce, the Boston Celtics great, to pay half of all ‘reasonable expenses’ relating to the pregnancy, birth and post-birth. She claims that amount comes to $18,846.
Paul Pierce admits he is the father of a two-month-old baby at the center of a paternity lawsuit
The NBA champion shares King Rafael Santiago Pierce with Princess Santiago (pictured)
In a previous filing, Santiago claimed Pierce earned ‘approximately $195million to $203m in total NBA salary’ and that he ‘has publicly stated that during his NBA career he made enough money from endorsements that he did not have to use his NBA salary to pay his expenses or generous expenditures on his family, romantic partners and family.’
Back in January when she made the initial filing, Santiago said in a statement: ‘I filed for paternity papers after multiple attempts to resolve this privately. Paul Pierce is the father of my son, King, and I am simply asking for a paternity test so the truth can be confirmed.’
She added: ‘This isn’t about drama or attention — it’s about accountability and doing what’s right for my child.’
This is the latest in a string of public embarrassments for Pierce.
In October, he was charged with one count of driving under the influence of alcohol and one count of driving with .08 per cent blood alcohol content after he was found asleep at the wheel of his Range Rover SUV in the middle of a traffic-jammed highway.
On the night of his arrest, California Highway Patrol shut down multiple lanes of Highway 101 to investigate a crash. It left Pierce and many other motorists stuck in gridlocked traffic for nearly an hour.
When the highway was re-opened at around 10:30pm local time, Pierce was found sleeping at the wheel just south of the crash.
Pierce posted an image of rows and rows of cars with brake lights on and captioned it: ‘Imagine being stuck in stand still traffic for 45 mins and falling asleep.’
After being taken into custody, Pierce posted on social media that he simply fell asleep for ‘being old and tired.’
‘I took this picture that night because I never been in stand still traffic for this long,’ he said.
‘I’m old, I’m tired, and I fell asleep. I’m good y’all thanks for the love.’
Santiago is an LA-based event coordinator, according to her various online profiles
Former Boston Celtics star Pierce won an NBA championship with the team back in 2008
The California Highway Patrol claimed that Pierce, who provided officers with a blood test, showed signs of alcohol impairment when they approached his vehicle.
Pierce has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Since retiring in 2017, the 48-year-old California native has worked as an NBA analyst for two sports cable stations, both of which ultimately fired him.
In 2021, Pierce was let go by ESPN after livestreaming himself playing poker with bikini-clad women as the group enjoyed some alcohol and marijuana.
The Truth, as he was known during his playing days, resurfaced at FS1 in 2024, where he served as a regular contributor on Undisputed with Skip Bayless.
That show was later cancelled and Pierce moved to another show, Speak, which was also shut down.
