In April 2019, Paul Pierce inexplicably went on a diatribe against Dwyane Wade, who was in the last week of a Hall of Fame career. For some reason, he saw fit to compare himself to the 13-time All-Star, arguing that his superior exploits did not get ample — or any — recognition because social media hadn’t yet matured to the point where news is absorbed, and discussions are held, in real time. On the ESPN broadcast, he contended that he would have had at least as many titles (three) had he also been fortunate enough to share the court with such notables as Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh.
Pierce was, to be sure, not wrong in noting that no one man is so good as to claim the hardware without help. He even went to far as to point out that the Celtics’ own assemblage of stars during his time did not compare to the Heat’s with Wade because Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were already past their prime. On the other hand, he conveniently forgot that players make their own destiny, and that the numbers do not lie: He was trumped in just about every significant metric, traditional or advanced. Which was why Jalen Rose had a field day directly contradicting him in the same show.
Fast forward four years, and Pierce continues to believe in his supposed ascendancy. “My skills went unappreciated because I didn’t get to play with a lot of great players,” he said on the It Is What It Is talk show the other day. “Put Shaq on my team. Put LeBron and Bosh with me. I’m not gonna win one? We’re not gonna win a couple? Who’s the better three-point shooter? Is [Wade] a better scorer? Okay, he averaged more points than me. I can shoot the three. I can [take the] mid-range [shot]. I can post up. I can get to the line. Who’s a better scorer?”
Needless to say, Pierce made an appeal to ignorance the other day. He engaged in a debate he insisted on winning by setting the terms. The good news is that the ensuing backlash seemed to knock some sense into him. Yesterday, he tweeted a rambling clarification in which he insisted that “I never compared myself to Dwyane Wade,” and that “all I’m saying is the narrative surrounding me would be different if I was lucky enough to play with all timers earlier in my career.” Hopefully, it’ll be the last time he brings the subject up. Else, he’ll keep coming off as a jealous Has Been unsatisfied with his own place in Springfield.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
