It may have seemed like Paul Pierce and LeBron James hated each other back in the day, when they were battling for Eastern Conference supremacy—and, to be honest, they probably did. But now that the Truth is retired, it's all love between the former rivals.
"I don't hate him," Pierce shared in a new interview with the Breakfast Club crew. "I respect him, man. He's one of the greatest of all time. We had our battles, and it was all good, but I got a lot of respect for him. It was just an on-the-court thing. When I see him off the court, it's all respect. I go up to him, say what's up. I've seen him at a couple boxing matches in Vegas, Floyd stuff. But it looked like I hated him when we were on the court."
Pierce and fellow former NBA standout Baron Davis stopped by the morning show to talk all things basketball. Check out their full interview below.
At one point, Charlamagne tha God shared his opinion that Kobe Bryant is a better overall player than LeBron James, but LBJ is more skilled. Baron had the opposite perspective.
"I think Kobe is better-skilled, but I think LeBron is a better player just overall, just because LeBron, his ability to play with anybody, and make anybody better," Baron said.
Pierce chimed in with the highest of praise for his former adversary, comparing him to a remix of two of the all-time greats. "I think LeBron is a better-skilled player because he can do more," Pierce said. "He's a better passer than Kobe, better rebounder, ambidextrous, can use either hand, he jumps just as high as Kobe, and his footwork. The thing is, think about this, we've seen Kobe before—we've seen Jordan, who Kobe emulated. We haven't seen LeBron before…Magic wasn't this athletic freak."
Pierce continued: "You'd have to put Jordan and Magic together, and then you'd get LeBron."
LeBron has reached a new stratosphere in this year's postseason, in which he's averaging 32.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 9.0 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. His squad will look to even its series with Boston in Game 2 Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. EST.
