Skip to main content

Paul Pierce Suggests LeBron James Could've Voted Him as NBA's GOAT in Player Poll


Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

One person voted for ex-Boston Celtics legend (and Basketball Hall of Famer) Paul Pierce as the game's greatest of all time in The Athletic's recent anonymous poll of NBA players.

As good as Pierce is, this is very likely his first public inclusion into the GOAT conversation, which has largely been populated by Michael Jordan (who received 45.9 percent of the vote) and LeBron James (42.1 percent).

During an appearance on Tuesday's edition of FS1's Undisputed show with Keyshawn Johnson and Skip Bayless, Pierce was asked about the vote, alongside a query on who he thought voted for him (h/t Brandon Contes of Awful Announcing).

"Hey Skip, Key, sometimes it's not always everything you do on the court, but off the court too that makes you the GOAT," Pierce said.

"Hey, it's a combination of things that can put you in the GOAT conversation buddy...Don't hate the player, hate the game, you know what I'm saying?"

Soon afterward, Pierce brought up James' name unprompted.

"What if LBJ voted for me? I played against him, he must think something. What do you think about that? What do you think about that? We had a lot of battles. Come on now, we had some tough battles. We had some tough battles. It could have been LB."

Johnson then said that he held his own, and Pierce said he agreed (until he got old).

The C's and James' Cleveland Cavaliers (and later Miami Heat) absolutely had some battles. Boston beat Cleveland four games to three in the 2008 Eastern Conference Semifinals and 4-2 in the 2010 East semis. James then left for the Heat, who beat the C's in the 2011 East semis and 2012 East finals.

Pierce held his own against one of the game's all-time legends. He's not the GOAT, but he had a great career in his own right, making 10 All-Star teams and four All-NBA teams. Pierce also made the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NBA Monday Morning Shootaround: LeBron James, The Hunger Games, and More - Bleacher Report

Welcome to the "Monday Morning Shootaround," Bleacher Report's recap of the weekend that was in the NBA. Along with getting you caught up on the weekend’s playoff action, we’ll give you a sneak preview of what could potentially be the greatest basketball book of all time, show you the best 70-year-old playground superstar ever, and tell you about a young star that just might choose religion over the fame and fortune of the NBA. The Opening Tip * ABC cameras caught LeBron James reading The Hunger Games before the Miami Heat played the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. Shortly thereafter, the Miami Heat small forward proceeded to go into full Katniss Everdeen mode to the tune of 40 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists as the Heat pulled out a hard-fought 101-93 victory. After a slow start, Heat guard Dwyane Wade finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists of his own. But Sunday afternoon was all about James and his gaudy numbers, virtually all of which we...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breaking Down the Differences Between LeBron James and Kevin Durant - Bleacher Report

LeBron James and Kevin Durant are being coined as "the future of the NBA 's next generation." That is certainly true, but they aren't exactly on the same level. LeBron and Durant are two different players, who bring varying skills to different facets of the game. Instead of just comparing them in a "who's the best" fashion, let's take a minute and break down which player excels in each and every facet of the game of basketball. Ahead is a breakdown of the differences that exist between LeBron and Durant.  Scoring Ronald Martinez/Getty Images LeBron 2011-12 Per-Game Stats: 27.1 points, 53.1 FG%, 36.3 3P%, 77.1 FT% Durant 2011-12 Per-Game Stats: 28.0 points, 49.6 FG%, 38.7 3P%, 86.0 FT% Scoring is what Kevin Durant does. It's not only his specialty, it's also what makes him such a dangerous and elite player. With that being said, LeBron isn't exactly a slouch on the offensive side of the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Luka Dončić joins LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Jerry West as only Lakers to post 30 points and 15 assists in a game

LeBron James joined a club of one on Tuesday , while Luka Dončić joined a club of four. With 30 points and a Lakers career-high 15 assists, Luka Dončić became only the fourth player in Lakers history to post those totals in a single game in a 136-115 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The other three: James, Magic Johnson and Jerry West. We'll call that a solid group. That performance included a stretch of three straight 3-pointers to set the tone in the first quarter. It was once again the LeBron and Dončić (LeBrončić?) show, as Dončić's co-star posted 34 points on 10-of-18 shooting, eight rebounds and six assists. Center Jaxson Hayes also had one of the best games of his Lakers career, scoring 19 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting plus 10 rebounds. Dončić was two points away from tying his Lakers career high in points as well, and likely would have gotten it had L.A. not taken its foot off the gas in the fourth quarter. After a back-and-forth first half in which the P...
Post a Comment
Read more