NEWPORT (AP) — Paul Pierce didn’t need to win the NBA championship and the Final’s Most Valuable Player award over Kobe Bryant to know he’s one of the best.

“I felt that way since my rookie year,” Pierce said, pausing for a brief laugh.

“I’m just more publicized now. That’s all it is,” he said after workouts ended Thursday at the team’s training camp at Salve Regina University.

During the playoffs, Pierce battled some of the game’s biggest names. In Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, he scored 41 points against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

His most celebrated performance, though, was in Game 1 of the Finals, when he went down with what appeared to be a major knee injury, was carried off the floor to a wheelchair and pushed to the Celtics locker room. A few minutes later, he returned and scored 15 third-quarter points in Boston’s victory.

“I think as a teammate, he’s recognized now as a winner,” Ray Allen said. “Not making the playoffs for a couple of years, I think all of us were just looked at as guys that were good. The exposure increased, obviously, and it helped everybody’s reputation as a winner.”

Before last season, Pierce was the best player on a bad team. Then Boston traded for Allen from Seattle and Kevin Garnett from Minnesota.

“It was a lot easier to guard him before last year,” Allen said. “He was basically the one threat on the team, like I was myself. It made it tougher for him to score. Now, being a teammate, it makes it easier for him because we have so many weapons on the floor.”

Pierce didn’t mind that his average of 19.6 points a game was lower than the previous nine seasons.

“We built a great chemistry last year,” he said.

Now, after feeling what its like to win a championship, Pierce expects the Celtics to be a favorite to repeat.

“Once you get a taste of the success you want to do it again,” he said. “The guys felt like that going into the summer after winning a championship. The guys are hungry for more.”