Paul Pierce doubles down on his polarizing Dwyane Wade take
February 20, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; NBA great Paul Pierce is honored for being selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team during halftime in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Paul Pierce isn’t nicknamed “The Truth” for no reason. The Hall of Famer has affirmed his stance on an NBA debate that’s been going on for years: was Pierce better than Dwyane Wade?
Back in 2019, Pierce made waves when he claimed that he had a better career than Wade.
Over four years after Pierce’s controversial take was made public, the Boston Celtics legend was asked to justify his Wade comparison on a recent appearance on the “It Is What It Is” show.
“Put Shaq on my team, put LeBron and Bosh with me. I’m not going to win one, you don’t think? You put me, LeBron, and Bosh — we’re not going to win a couple?” Pierce said.
“My skills went unappreciated because I didn’t get to play with a lot of great players.” – @paulpierce34
D. Wade vs The Truth
via #ItIsWhatItIs pic.twitter.com/9DOfxFyzE0— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) July 22, 2023
To Pierce’s credit, he spent most of his early Celtics seasons with a supporting cast that was mediocre at best. Antoine Walker was the best player Pierce was able to play with before the arrivals of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Even then, Garnett and Allen were already past their primes when they joined forces in 2007.
Pierce cleared up that he wasn’t criticizing Wade for winning with great players on his Miami Heat teams. The former Celtics star just felt “unappreciated” for his peak years given that it wasn’t until his age-30 season that he had All-NBA caliber players on his squad.
“I don’t want this to be a knock versus Wade. Wade is one of the greatest. But I’m just saying, for a long time my skills went unappreciated because I didn’t get to play with a lot of great players,” Pierce continued.
There are many arguments and statistics to support either Hall of Famer’s case of being better than the other. In the grand scheme of things, Pierce might indeed be underrated as a player like he claims. However, it’s Pierce’s need to boast and put himself over another player — like Wade — that may rub some people the wrong way.
NBA fans and pundits will continue to debate these sorts of topics for years. Pierce might be better off leaving it up for public debate.
