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Paul Pierce has never been one to mix his words, and he stayed true to form in a recent discussion with Gilbert Arenas on Fubo Sports Network’s “No Chill with Gilbert Arenas”.
During the conversation, the Boston Celtics legend took aim at the Philadelphia 76ers James Harden, lamenting his failure to win a championship despite playing alongside a string of future Hall of Famers.
“My thing is, when I look at that, Embiid is the best big in the game, and I’m like ‘if I had a chance to play with the talent that Harden’s played with, I’d probably be walking out of here with five championships.’
He’s played with Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Dwight Howard, and now you’re playing with Joel Embiid. I mean, you’re talking about playing with all Hall of Famers, and it ain’t worked yet,” Pierce said.
Pierce Doesn’t Think Philadelphia Are Contenders
The Celtics have found themselves in championship discussions in recent weeks due to their significant upturn in performances since the turn of the year. Boston currently has the best defense in the NBA, and many believe they have an outside shot of making it to the finals once the post-season begins.
However, the Sixers are currently the favorites to make it out of the Eastern Conference thanks to their star duo of Joel Embiid and Harden, and their seemingly unstoppable two-man game in the pick-and-roll. Pierce, who won a championship in Boston in 2008, and Arenas both agree the star partnership isn’t going to play out how many currently think it will.
“So, they’re gonna have their first run, if they win it, everything is great. Say they lose, they’re gonna come back and this is gonna be the adjustment. But if that doesn’t start working, James is probably going to go somewhere else,” Pierce said.
Paul Pierce said he’d have 5 championships if he played with the talent James Harden has played with.
Paul Pierce has 1 championship ring in 4 years played with Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
Arenas’ weighs in on the discussion by stating, “Everybody keeps saying they’re going to win a championship, not realizing it’s only those two. The way you two play, Tobias (Harris) you don’t even know it yet, your game’s about to be done. It’s going to be one-on-one and then one-on-one, there ain’t no seconds for you now. So what happens is, everybody is going to be cut out of the offense, so they don’t have a team.”
Unlike the Sixers, the Celtics core has been to battle with each other for multiple straight seasons, and that cohesion is what Boston will be leaning on during the tough runs that will undoubtedly come their way during the post-season.
Pierce Recently Discussed Difficulties in Playing as a Duo
For some Celtics fans, their memories of Pierce begin with the 2008 championship team and continue through the Kevin Garnett era. Others remember a time when the Celtics didn’t have such talent at their disposal. Yet, for a significant portion of Pierce’s time in green, he did share the floor with at least one other scorer.
During a recent panel discussion aired on NBC Sports Boston, Pierce discussed how players have to sacrifice to make “dynamic duo’s” work for the good of the team.
“To be a great dynamic duo. The second guy has to sacrifice. You both could probably be ‘the’ guy, and it’s usually right there. The second guy has to sacrifice. For instance, Kobe has to sacrifice for Shaq, even though he probably could’ve been the No. 1, and he had to swallow it, and the reason they didn’t win more championships is because Kobe couldn’t swallow it. Because he knew he could have been that. But the key to a successful one is one of those guys has to swallow that pill to not be ‘the’ guy,” Pierce told the crowd.
“To be a great dynamic duo… the second guy has to sacrifice.”
@paulpierce34 offers his perspective on what it takes for two star players to play together successfully
There has been a ton of rhetoric about Tatum and Brown’s fit together this season, and how they need to learn to play off of one another. So, it feels like Pierce’s discussion during his time on the panel was aimed towards Boston’s latest crop of All-Star talent. And if Tatum and Brown can figure out who is 1a and 1b, the team has every chance of making a deep playoff this year and in the seasons to come.
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Ex-Celtic Roasts Sixers Star James Harden