Paul Pierce Draws BOLD LeBron James – Anthony Edwards Parallel Minus One KEY Aspect

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards has been on a tear in the playoffs. The young guard captivated the world with his stunning performances and trash-talking to Kevin Durant during his team’s 4-0 hammering of the Phoenix Suns. He earned plaudits from the game’s ‘oldheads’ for reminding them of a bygone era where players weren’t wary of inciting a superstar’s ire. Among these oldheads is Hall of Famer Paul Pierce, who has admitted to being a fan of the Timberwolves guard.

Like Edwards, the former Boston Celtics superstar wasn’t scared of talking trash as a young, rising star in the league and backing it up on the court. On the ‘Truth Lounge’ podcast, his co-host Jason Crowe asked whether any young player was as gutsy as him to challenge Pierce on the court.

The Celtics legend, unsurprisingly, named LeBron James. However, he claimed that while the then-Cleveland Cavaliers star was performing as well as Edwards, he did not indulge in trash-talking. He said,

“He wasn’t talking s**t to me though… Ain’t nobody was coming in the league that swagged up. They weren’t about to do that. See that’s what I am saying, ain’t nobody about to be talking like that to me. My talk was just too much. I’ll make you feel bad about being a human.”

Pierce’s trash-talking was menacing. James knew better than to irk the veteran and focused on taking down the Celtics with his basketball prowess.

Despite his best efforts, the four-time NBA champion couldn’t get the better of his arch-nemesis until he left Cleveland and joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. He finally got his elusive win over Pierce and the Celtics in back-to-back seasons.

However, even when he beat them with the Miami Heat, James did not indulge in a battle of wits with Pierce on the court. He was aware he’d likely lose that battle, and it could affect his performance. James focused on his game and got the job done. While LBJ did not face Pierce’s on-court talks, his teammate Iman Shumpert was not that lucky.

Iman Shumpert gets a taste of Paul Pierce’s vicious trash-talking

Pierce claimed that the Celtics were one of the most intimidating teams in the league regarding trash-talking. In one such incident, Iman Shumpert got caught in a crossfire between the Hall of Famer Pierce and Carmelo Anthony during a game between the Celtics and the New York Knicks.

On an episode of the ‘Iman Against Men’ podcast, Shumpert revealed that he was tasked with guarding Pierce, who wasn’t too pleased about it. He said,

“He putting the ball dead in front of my face, the crossover right there and I’m like, I studied it. It’s here. I got it. [imitating Paul Pierce] ‘Who is this young n***a man? Who’s y’all got me? Who’s guarding me man? Melo, let me know when you ready to play.’ Damn n***a I’m not out there.” 

Per Shumpert, Pierce backed his trash-talking and led the Celtics to an easy win with an impeccable performance. That night, the now-retired guard learned a valuable lesson that it was futile to indulge in such a to-and-fro with the veteran star and he’d have a better chance of performing well if, like James, he focused on his own game and avoided any such altercation.