As an NBA player, Paul Pierce was one of the best scorers the league has ever seen. During his time with the Boston Celtics, Pierce was a 10-time All-Star and an NBA champion. His incredible achievement led to a spot on the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team and in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Since retirement, Pierce has become a somewhat controversial media personality. His honest takes and affable style make him quite the entertainer, but that also makes him susceptible to some scorching hot takes. The most interesting ones on that front involve him comparing himself to LeBron James, and the latest one is both complimentary as well as a bit narcissistic.
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"LeBron is the reason I am who I am. I'm not a Top 75 player today if I don't have battles with him. I'm not a Hall of Famer. Me being able to put on that jacket, he was a big part of that. … I needed him, and I think he needed me, too." – @paulpierce34 on @KingJames pic.twitter.com/BrTdTs3338
— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) October 16, 2025
“LeBron is the reason I am who I am,” Pierce said on Club Shay Shay. “I’m not a Top 75 player today if I don’t have battles with him. I’m not a Hall of Famer. Me being able to put on that jacket, he was a big part of that. You gotta go through some real battles with some real players to get that type of credibility.
“So I needed him. And I think he needed me too. When I look at it, we was putting him out the playoffs. That critcial Game 6 he has in Boston that he had? If he loses that game, that changes.”
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Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce on the court with Miami Heat forward LeBron James at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
There’s no disputing that LeBron had some great battles with those Celtics teams that Pierce was on. However, those teams also had the likes of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. To suggest that it was the two of them going head-to-head is a bit wild, to say the least. It’s safe to say that while The Truth might be undeniably great, saying King James needed him is a step too far.
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