Boston Celtics legend, Paul Pierce saw LeBron James as soft especially in the NBA Playoffs according to Ryan Hollins.
Appearing on the Scoop B Radio Podcast last month, retired NBA analyst Ryan Hollins discussed the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals where Pierce’s Celtics held a 3-2 lead after five games with a chance to close the series at Boston.
“That was our championship to walk away with, until then LeBron was seen as soft,” Ryan Hollins told me.
“We thought he wouldn’t show up in fourth quarters, we thought he wasn’t the real dude and when things got tight, he wouldn’t be able to go out and make plays. And if Paul Pierce could stay out of foul trouble, Paul was just as good at creating his own shot in clutch moments.”
Hollins furthered his assesment by stating just how clutch Pierce was. “Paul was just as good at creating his own shot in clutch moments,” he said.
“We’ve seen clutch Paul Pierce. Clutch Paul Pierce outshined Kobe Bryant. People fail to realize Paul Pierce was maybe the best player on the planet for that year (2008)…so Paul was really looked over because he had so many mediocre years until Kevin Garnett and those guys got there.”
On today’s episode of the Scoop B Radio Podcast, two-time Miami Heat Champion, Mario Chalmers stopped by to promote his appearance in The 5 Tournament Pro Basketball Invitational and while there I asked him why Paul Pierce has such a disdain for LeBron James.
GettyFormer Miami Heat teammates LeBron James, Mario Chalmers and Dwyane Wade.
“I think it’s something personal,” Chalmers told Scoop B Radio.
“But for me, I just feel like Paul Pierce never got the respect that he deserved when it comes to him being that type of caliber player he is – because when you think about the top small forwards, you don’t name Paul Pierce. You name T-Mac, Scottie Pippen, James Worthy… you name guys like that. And I just feel like when they named ‘Bron he’s like he’s did things and I should be up there too, I did just as much as these guys did; I got the ring, I got the numbers…why is my name NOT up there? So I think that it’s a little personal matchup between him and ‘Bron. I don’t think it’s really any dislike, I just think that’s how he feels.”
I also asked Chalmers what he thought about Ryan Hollins‘ assesment of clutch Paul Pierce versus Clutch Kobe Bryant. “This is going to sound weird coming from me but like, Kobe did it THROUGHOUT his whole career,” he told Scoop B Radio.
“Paul Pierce did it too, but not on big stages like that because he didn’t have the team to do that on big stages so, of course it’s going to stand out more, but Paul Pierce is just as clutch as any of them. Just like ‘Melo; ‘Melo is just as clutch as any of them too but, ‘Melo doesn’t get that respect because isn’t on that big stage. And no lie, it was about three or four days ago I was watching a game of Denver vs L.A. and I think it was Game One when ‘Melo had 35, Kobe had 37 or something like that and I sat there and watched that game. ‘Melo had a really good team but, the Lakers were…better. So it’s no fault of his that he didn’t make it, he just went up against a better team.”
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Paul Pierce’s Reason For Hating Lakers Star LeBron James Revealed [VIDEO]