For a modern-day NBA player to criticize Michael Jordan will undoubtedly raise eyebrows and leave mouths open. But more often than not, these are taken out of context, and Paul Pierce, before becoming public enemy number one on the internet, had to come out and explain what he meant when he said Michael Jordan had a “limited bag”.
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Jordan is arguably the best scorer the NBA has ever seen, and Pierce decided to point that out. Kevin Garnett, his long-time teammate, on his podcast, brought it up and asked Pierce to clarify it. It was something that had to be done. How can MJ be someone who lacked skill?
Pierce answered by beginning with two very important words. “Today’s game.”
The Boston Celtics legend was simply comparing Jordan’s skillset to that of the NBA’s stars today. And to be fair to Pierce, things are far different today than they were in the ’90s. “That needs to be said,” Garnett reminded Pierce.
“In today’s day, what’s considered a bag, and there’s like no real set definition for it,” Pierce continued. “Because you just look like, ‘Who got a bag in the league?’ and you just go to like, Kyrie [Irving], James Harden, but there are guys who need multiple moves to get cracking.”
“Jordan don’t need no multiple moves,” Pierce added. “He just right by you, one dribble pullup, fade away.”
Pierce was not throwing shade at Jordan. He was just comparing different times. It’s like comparing the three-point shooting of Stephen Curry to someone from the 1970s. Back then, no one even thought of shooting from deep. Today, it’s something teams rely on.
Similarly, back when Jordan was at his peak, a player didn’t need a huge range of dribble combos, step-backs, snatch-backs, etc., to beat their man. And Jordan, for his time, was near impossible to stop because of the bag he had.
“Jordan had a bag for his era,” Pierce justified. “I was taking it into context for this era.”
Pierce further explained how being a great scorer doesn’t necessarily warrant a big bag. He noted LeBron James, the NBA’s All-Time leading scorer, doesn’t have a particularly diverse bag himself. That ought to do it as far as saving Pierce’s skin goes.
