Paul Pierce was one of the Miami Heat’s biggest rivals during the early 2010s. The Boston Celtics legend engaged in big battles with the LeBron James-led Heat, creating one of the best rivalries in the East in recent times.
You can say the bad blood between Pierce and the Heat hasn’t ended, as The Truth took a big shot at the Floridians recently. The Heat president Pat Riley appeared on a video released by the team, saying he wants to build another championship squad, and he’s close to do so.
This season they were doing a great job in the East, surprising everybody as one the top 4 teams in their conference.
“I want to build another championship team and we’re close. Maybe we need another player. Maybe we need less. I don’t know. The point is we’re right there and we’re a contender, and I’m proud of that,” Riley said.
Well, Pierce isn’t that convinced that is 100% true. He appeared on ESPN’s The Jump on Thursday, reflecting on those comments, downplaying what Riley said. To Pierce, if Miami is close to winning a championship, the rest of the NBA is, too.
“If the Miami Heat is close, that means every team in the NBA is close. I don’t think they’re close. Let me tell you when you’re close. You’re close if you have a top five player playing on your team. That is the main ingredient. I say this and I’ll always say this with the exclusion of the Detroit Pistons who won in the early 2000s.
“Think about the contenders today: the Lakers, who have an MVP candidate, Milwaukee, with Giannis [Antetokounmpo] an MVP candidate. Houston Rockets, with James Harden a top five player. Those three guys are top five players. The Clippers; they got Kawhi [Leonard] and Paul George, a top five and top 10 player.
“Those are the only four teams I believe that can win the championship this year because that is one of the main ingredients. You can go back as far as 20, 30 years and see every championship team or team that has been a champion has had a top five MVP candidate on their roster. No disrespect to Jimmy Butler; he’s good but he’s not on these other guys’ level.”
Pierce is right with his claims, they don’t have a top 5 or top 10 player on their roster, but the Heat are doing a terrific job this season, combining the experience of Jimmy Butler and their trade deadline acquisition Andre Iguodala along with a great group of young players.
Perhaps not this season, but if the Heat continues this project, they will be part of the contenders in no time.
Pat Riley has shown he can build championship teams and Erik Spoelstra has already shown he can lead his players to the promised land. It won’t be this season, but be careful. This team can make a lot of noise in the NBA in the short future.
