Paul Pierce once again made a lot of headlines in recent days when he claimed LeBron James wasn’t a top-5 player of all-time. The Truth has a heated rivalry with LeBron and it looks like he still holds grudges against the King given his recent statements. Pierce picked Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, and Kobe Bryant as his top 5 players ever, leaving LeBron out of the conversation.
Former big man Kendrick Perkins, who played with both Pierce and LeBron, revealed why these guys don’t like each other. According to Perk, it all started when Paul spitted towards the Cavaliers bench during a preseason game in 2003, when Bron was still a rookie.
It looks like that moment fueled LeBron to own Paul Pierce since the King was merciless against the Truth, scoring over 1000 points on him throughout his career. Even though at the beginning of his career Bron didn’t have much success against Pierce and his Celtics, the King turned things around and showed a complete dominance over his rival.
He got 1000 points on just Paul pierce 🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/29xWHGQIjl
— Romeo Travis (@RomeTrav) May 21, 2020
In 39 games of the 69 he played against Pierce, James scored 1402 points, dropping 45 on him twice, as well as multiple 30+ point games. The 2008 NBA champion often says he’s LeBron’s biggest rival, but he doesn’t look much as a rival with those numbers. In 39 regular games James averaged 29.3 points per outing against the Truth.
Moreover, LeBron boasts a 35-34 record vs. Paul Pierce, 4-2 in Playoffs series and 17-13 (W/L) overall in the postseason.
There is no doubt that whenever Bron saw Pierce, he just went off on the Celtics icon. LeBron made sure to beat the Celtics and their star more than once in the playoffs, confirming his status as the ruler of the East with his Miami Heat from 2010 through 2014.
Perhaps he’s not a top-5 player of all time in the eyes of Pierce, but against him, LeBron looked like the GOAT.
