Lakers News: Championship LeBron James Teammate Explains Bitter Hall Of Fame Rivalry
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has had plenty of rivals in his long career but none defined his early career bigger than Paul Pierce did.
Through constant battles when both stars dominated the Eastern Conference, one of James' former Heat teammates detailed why there was so much hatred between the two.
Pierce and the Boston Celtics maintained dominance over LeBron's Cavs during the King's first stint in Cleveland with their Big 3 that went to two Finals in three years.
Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined forces with the former Jayhawk and led the biggest single-season turnaround that included an intense second-round showdown in 2008 with the Cavs that went seven.
James responded to Cleveland's failure to build a true contender around him by forming his own in Miami with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to counter Boston's aging superstars.
Miami faced off against the Celtics twice in their own Heatles' era and won series in both 2011 and 2012 amid four straight Finals appearances in as many seasons for Miami.
Boston's trio eventually dissolved after the 2012 season through trading Allen coincidentally to Miami where the sharpshooter won a ring with the Celtics' nemesis thanks to his Game 6 heroics in 2013.
Chalmers witnessed firsthand these intense battles between Pierce and James so his perspective is welcome as the starting point guard for those championship Heat teams.
Pierce was great in his own right during the early 2000s and for part of the 2010s, but the NBA's all-time leading scorer has more than an upper hand for his respective career.
While the Celtic legend retired at age 39, soon-to-be-39-year-old LeBron is continuing to amaze at the same point in his life with a championship on his agenda ahead of his mind-boggling 21st season in the NBA.
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