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Paul Pierce attempts to clarify comments after comparing his career to Dwyane Wade’s
"I would never disrespect him he is an all time great."
Just days after stating his case for why he had a better basketball career than former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, Celtics legend Paul Pierce backtracked on some of his comments via Twitter on Monday morning.
“I never compared myself to [Dwyane] Wade, I was [asked] a question how would u answer if u was me I would never disrespect him he is an all time great,” Pierce wrote on Twitter about Wade. “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.”
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Pierce’s attempted clarification on social media comes shortly after the Hall of Famer discussed his career resume in comparison to Wade during an appearance on rappers Cam’Ron and Mase’s “It Is What It Is” YouTube series.
Pierce, who first proclaimed back in 2019 that he was a better player than Wade, argued on “It Is What It Is” that his career accolades were more impressive than Wade’s due to the lack of star talent around him during his early years in Boston.
While Pierce eventually won an NBA title in 2008 alongside fellow stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, most of his first 10 years with the Celtics were primarily spent on rebuilding rosters.
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Wade won three championships during his pro career, with the shooting guard serving as a key cog on multiple Miami rosters also featuring elite talents like LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, and Chris Bosh.
“Put Shaq [O’Neal] on my team. Put LeBron [James] and [Chris] Bosh with me. I’m not gonna win one?” Pierce said on “It Is What It Is”. “Put me, LeBron, and Bosh, we not gonna win a couple?
“For a long time, my skills went unappreciated because I didn’t get to play with a lot of great players,” Pierce continued. “And then I got to play with KG and Ray [Allen] past their prime. Four years earlier, you put me, Ray, and KG together, you think we’re not walking away with three ‘ships?”
During his Twitter response on Monday, Pierce noted that multiple other star players from his generation also didn’t have much help during their respective careers, including Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, Grant Hill, and Chris Webber.
“This [is] not about me comparing myself to him,” Pierce said of Wade. “It’s just Goat players out there where the narrative would be different if given [the] same type of teammates … D-Wade much respect that’s not what I’m on.”
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