Dwyane Wade Doesn’t Think Paul Pierce Got Enough Attention In His Playing Days
With Dwyane Wade now a Hall of Famer, he has achieved the biggest accomplishment.
It also means he has the ultimate leverage to respond to critics in a humble way. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Wade said former NBA player Paul Pierce was a great player but his game constantly got overlooked.
“Listen, Paul Pierce was one of the greatest players that we’ve had in our game,” Wade said. “And I think, you know, when you are a great player and you don’t get the attention that you feel like your game deserved, sometimes you’ve got to grab whatever attention where those straws are. And Paul believes he’s a better player than me. He should believe that. That’s why he was great. That’s not my argument, and I didn’t play the game to be better than Paul Pierce. I played the game the way I played it, and I made the sacrifices that I made. Everybody doesn’t want to sacrifice.”
These are surprising words considering the unfriendly nature between the two. Some could say the beef started during their playing days when Wade and the Miami Heat repeatedly stopped Pierce from winning a second championship.
But on Jul. 22, it really heated up after a video went viral of rappers Cam’Ron and Ma$e’s It Is What It Is podcast. In the video, Pierce said Wade’s teammates were why he was so successful.
“For a long time, my skills went unappreciated because I didn’t get to play with a lot of great players,” Pierce said. “And then I got to play with KG and Ray past they prime. Okay, if four years earlier you put me, Ray and KG together, you think we ain’t walking away with three chips?”
Wade finally responded on Aug. 8. During an episode of The Dan Le Batard Show podcast, he said he’s living rent free in Pierce’s head.
“I mean, listen, rent is expensive in America and I’m living rent free right now so let him keep going,” Wade said. “I like living rent free.”
Although Wade has now taken the humble approach, there’s no saying if Pierce is able to do the same.
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Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog HERE.
