Paul Pierce may have become somewhat of a joke in the eyes of some, thanks to some outrageous comments he has made on television in recent years, but there is no denying that he was a great player. He spent much of his career with the Celtics, during which he won a title and finished as the second-leading scorer in franchise history, which is saying something considering all the greats that have played for the team.
As is the case with most players of that ilk, Pierce also had a huge ego, and we saw it come to the surface a couple of years back when he said that his career was better than Dwyane Wade’s. “The Truth” clearly thought very highly of himself, and Wilson Chandler revealed a hilarious exchange Pierce had with Amar’e Stoudemire.
Wilson Chandler Revealed Paul Pierce’s Hilarious Trash Talk To Amar’e Stoudemire
Amar’e had come over from the Suns in 2010, and while he was an All-Star and had multiple appearances on All-NBA teams, Pierce still felt he wasn’t on his level. During a game between the two teams in Stoudemire’s first season, Chandler revealed how Pierce savagely trash-talked Amar’e who was trying to get him to miss a free throw late in the game.
“When I was in New York and we had Amar’e, we was playing Boston in Boston. It was a close game. We was down like four with a couple minutes left or whatever. Somebody fouled Paul Pierce. So he at the line. He goes through his routine, he shoot the free throw and made it. So he get the ball for the second free throw and he’s in his dribble… So Amar’e like ‘Oh he gonna give us one of these.’ but not in a malice way.”
“He said it and Paul Pierce stopped mid routine. And he just looked back over both shoulders. I’m like, ‘What the f*** is he doing?’”
“He looked back at Amar’e like, ‘Who you talking to? Me? You gotta be talking to Ray (Allen) or somebody. Because I done been in too many big games for me to miss these free throws right now. Matter of fact, I don’t even know why I’m arguing with you. I only argue with Kobes and LeBrons.’ Went back to his routine. Shot it. Made it. I was like, ‘What?’”
Pierce probably did believe he was on the same level as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. They were the two stars he had gone up against in the big moments at the time, having faced Kobe twice in the Finals, and he had quite a few battles with LeBron in the playoffs as well. The fact that he did beat Kobe in 2008 and LeBron when he was in Cleveland probably had Pierce feeling he should be held in the same high regard as them.
He has toned down on all the crazy talk a bit these days and gave out a pretty solid list of his top 5 MVP candidates this season. He had Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic as his top 2, and most people would agree with that assessment.
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