soccer legend Alessandro del Piero, an NBA fanatic who had made an 875-mile round trip from Turin where he plays for the storied Juventus team, just to spend a few minutes with Garnett and company.
An inevitable, media-pleasing game of "keepy-uppy" ensued in which players stood in a circle juggling the ball between one another without allowing it to hit the floor.
Garnett, for somebody standing nearly seven feet, showed a surprisingly subtle touch, star-struck Uruguayan Esteban Batista, not surprisingly, showed great footwork, as did Allen, who spent several years playing soccer when he was growing up in Europe.
But the keepie-uppies broke down spectacularly when Pierce, to the general amusement of everybody, tried to become involved and succeeded only in booting the ball hard into Garnett's body, inches from his face.
Try explaining that one away to the Celtics Nation: Kevin Garnett will miss the start of the season after having his nose broken by Paul Pierce in a soccer keepy-uppy contest.