Paul Pierce gives a backhanded compliment to his Miami Heat rivals

The Miami Heat’s epic seven-game series in the 2012 East Finals was one of the most important and special moments in franchise history. It showed their real playing character, which saved coach Erik Spoelstra’s job and the memories haunt Paul Pierce, to this day.

The Heat’s Hall of Fame rival will most times say outlandish things yet there are moments where he can be humorous, and impart some wisdom. Still, his comments can be mistrusted since there is another motive: sticking it to LeBron James.

Pierce has frequently characterized himself as James's equal during their time battling each other in the NBA, though in the end, James ultimately got the best of him most of the time. And he's also put himself ahead of Dwyane Wade in all-time conversations, something that has drawn mockery in many corners, even as productive and persistent as Pierce was during his Boston days.

So take this for what you will. Pierce was recently on the No Fouls Given show explaining how Chris Bosh, not James or Wade, was the most important Heatle in the 2012 ECF.

He said, “We would’ve beat Miami because they didn’t have Bosh. He came back during our series and hit some big threes. I was like what the [expletive]! We would’ve beat them if he don’t come back. He was the difference.”

Bosh missed nine-straight playoff games with an abdominal injury, and the Heat fell behind 3-2 after Game 5 in Miami, featuring his awaited return. There was arguably the most pressure the team has ever faced going into Game 6 as reputations were on the line and the story of that night was James. He went berserk, and the Boston veterans must’ve acknowledged privately that they can’t compete with him like when sheriff Ed Tom Bell realizes he can’t hang with the opposition in Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men.

Bosh hit three 3-pointers in Game 7, including two in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter while it was tight.

Chris Bosh — David Butler II-Imagn Images

Conventional wisdom might lead one to believe that the most important player is the best one on the team, and in many cases it probably is. In the Heat’s case, there’s always been supporters who have thought that Bosh was, as well as members of the team’s inner sanctum.

Consider how after the 2010-11 failure, they committed to going smaller in the next years’ playoffs, and notably, the lineup with Joel Anthony and Bosh was their most used rotation, logging roughly 674 more minutes than their second-most used (which featured Shane Battier) in the 2011-12 regular season.

Interestingly, the Showtime Lakers can be highlighted as a team with its third star, James Worthy, being their most important for significant stretches. If not for coach Pat Riley’s all-time disastrous timeout call at the end of Game 2 of the 1984 Finals in Boston, the Lakers probably would have won that night (maybe the series), and Worthy is remembered as the hero after scoring 29 points on 91.7 percent shooting instead of the guy who turned it over late.

Worthy is famous for his nickname Big Game James because he seriously raised his level in the playoffs. Dwyane Wade would later be the same way for Riley and Spoelstra, but as the guy. Worthy was also the Finals MVP in 1988, but by that time Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was on his last legs and was only a star in name.

Bosh had to bang on the inside as an undersized guy because of his leaner build, and his playing up made the defense faster. Additionally, he didn’t interfere without James and Wade slashing to the cup since he could live on the perimeter. He was never the scorer Worthy was, but his sacrifices are a big reason why the Heat hung two more championship banners.