Former Celtics Great Paul Pierce Challenge for Lakers LeBron James' to Keep Top 5 GOAT
It's pretty well known that Paul Pierce has pretty high standards, especially when it comes to his former rival, LeBron James. Not many people have the credentials to truly speak about G.O.A.T.s but with a NBA Title, Finals MVP and upcoming Hall of Fame induction, Paul Pierce has earned the right to throw his hat into the ring of discussion.
To be fair, we need to keep these type of quotes in context, right?
Paul Pierce crossed paths with LeBron on a number of occasions when a young LeBron was looking to crack through that championship ceiling. Pierce was also trying his best, but was lucky that former Celtic Kevin McHale was the general manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves and gifted the Celtics Kevin Garnett to pair up with Pierce and sharpshooter Ray Allen.
The Celtics ran through a up and coming Cavs team to earn Paul Pierce's one and only championship ring. Pierce was notorious for his trash talking and I'm sure during those Celtic runs, he had some words for the up and coming superstar from Akron.
We all know that LeBron used the summer in Beijing to put together his version of the Big 3 in Miami, which helped him get his revenge on Paul Pierce while earning his first championship of his career.
After retiring as a player, Pierce quickly found a platform on ESPN to voice his criticisms of LeBron. Some would say it was his way of claiming the media ranks by piggy backing off growing stature of LeBron's superstar legend status.
Pierce would issue challenges to LeBron like he did in 2020:
Now, after being let go by ESPN during a time that occurred of some "extracurricular" activities, Paul Pierce is trying to stay relevant by issuing another challenge.
Unfair or not, this is not an uncommon opinion shared by most of LeBron's critics.
LeBron did have a big hand in bringing in Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, and Carmelo Anthony. This is the team he feels gives him the best shot to win his fifth championship and cement his legacy as arguably the greatest player of all time.
Should be interesting to see if Paul Pierce uses his Hall of Fame speech to say anything if LeBron pulls it off!
