Former Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce is fighting his ex Princess Santiago in court over how much he should pay each month to support their infant son, King Rafael, with Pierce offering $4,145 a month against her demand for $29,811. The dispute has spilled into public view through court filings that include alleged text messages between the two, revealing a bitter breakdown over paternity, visitation, and money since the boy's birth in February.
Santiago, a Los Angeles-based event director, filed a paternity suit against Pierce in January and later requested sole legal and physical custody of King Rafael, according to court documents cited by the New York Post. She also asked for genetic testing, $100,000 in legal fees, and reimbursement for pregnancy-related expenses. In an alleged text exchange dated April 13, Pierce said he had officially found out King was his son and wanted to see him.
The texts, which Santiago provided as part of the case, paint a strained back-and-forth. She said her son was born on February 6 and that Pierce could see him the next day, though what Pierce said in response to that message was not apparent from the filings. Santiago later said, on April 15, that Pierce had the opportunity to take a paternity test before or after the birth, and separately accused him of ignoring her pregnancy while prioritizing other people and activities over their son.
Santiago Says Pierce Rejected Efforts to Co-Parent
By mid-April, Santiago said Pierce was beginning to acknowledge King Rafael, but she maintained she had not prevented him from seeing the child and would not do so. She alleged Pierce rejected her efforts to co-parent and refused to provide all the financial information needed to determine support payments. She also said she was unable to work because she had to care for King Rafael on her own.
The public friction predated the court filings. As TMZ reported, Santiago criticized Pierce on social media in June for leaving five-month-old King out of a Father's Day post, alleging he had visited the infant only twice since his birth. By late April, Santiago said she would not beg Pierce to be a father if he did not want to be one.
Pierce Says His Income Has Shrunk Since Leaving the NBA
Pierce, who won an NBA championship and Finals MVP with the Celtics in 2008 and played 15 of his 19 NBA seasons in Boston, filed court documents opposing Santiago's child support request. He said his income was steadily decreasing and, per TMZ's reporting, told the court his Fox Sports 1 checks would end in September. He said he was willing to provide support to Santiago, just not at the level she requested.
Court financial disclosures show Pierce averaged $128,000 a month in 2025 and $165,000 a month in the first half of 2026, drawing income from Fox, DraftKings, Fanatics, and his No Fouls Given podcast, according to a report from Complex. Pierce also disclosed he already pays $24,000 a month in child support for the three children he shares with ex-wife Julie Landrum — sons Prince and Adrian and daughter Prianna — along with $20,000 a month in spousal support, according to TMZ's account of the filing.
Pierce argued those existing $44,000 in monthly obligations limit what he can pay toward King's support, and he disputed Santiago's claim that she lacks financial resources, alleging in his filing that she earns more than $400,000 annually as an event director. Santiago's legal team countered by pointing to Pierce's appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast, where he said his endorsement earnings were so high he never had to touch his NBA salary — evidence, her team argued, that he could afford $30,000 a month. Pierce responded in court that his post-NBA finances no longer resemble the picture he described in that interview.
How California Law Treats High-Earner Support Disputes
Under California Family Code Section 4057, courts apply a uniform statewide formula to calculate child support, but high-earning parents can request a reduction if the baseline guideline figure would vastly exceed a child's actual reasonable needs, according to a legal analysis on the statute. That provision is central to Pierce's case, as his $4,145 counteroffer sits far below both Santiago's original $30,000 request and the amount she formally sought in her petition, $29,811.
Pierce's finances have taken other hits in recent years. He agreed in February 2023 to pay $1.4 million in penalties and disgorgement to the Securities and Exchange Commission, as reported by CBS News, after being charged with touting EthereumMax cryptocurrency without disclosing $244,000 in promotional payments. ESPN had already fired him from his broadcast analyst job, where he earned more than $1 million a year, following a controversial Instagram Live broadcast in April 2021, per Front Office Sports. Across his 19 NBA seasons, primarily with the Celtics — whose organization retired his No. 34 jersey in February 2018 — Pierce earned an estimated $195 million to $203 million in playing salary before retiring in 2017.
The custody and support dispute over King Rafael remains unresolved, with both sides' filings now part of the public court record.
