Paul Pierce believes that his 2008 Celtics were a far better team mentally compared to the 2024 Celtics that won the Championship this year. Former NBA star Lou Williams addressed Pierce’s tall claim in a witty way on Run It Back.
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The 38-year-old pretty much gave the Boston legend a reality check by bringing up his infamous wheelchair incident in the 2008 Finals. Pierce had said on the Dan LeBatard show, “I ain’t gonna lie. This team is really good. Really good. But I will tell you this. I don’t know…we knew how to break teams mentally.”
Now, everybody, especially a former NBA Champion, deserves to brag a little. However, Williams wasn’t buying the ‘mentally break’ part.
He said, “Don’t underestimate these young guys. They might not be as boisterous as your 2008 Celtics were, but a lot of that was Kevin Garnett.”
As for the toughness of Paul Pierce, Williams reminded him that he had to be taken out of the floor in a wheelchair, which turned out to be nothing as Pierce returned to the game later on. So, there isn’t really much ground for the Truth to stand on.
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Williams added, “P, we thought you died one game when you got wheeled off in a wheelchair and came back.”
Chandler Parsons also sided with Williams’ take. He said that “anyone can say anything nowadays” because we will never get to see the end of these hypothetical scenarios.
The ’08 Cs and the ’24 Cs matchup
The ’08 Celtics and the ’24 Celtics are the last two teams to win a championship for the franchise. If we compare the two rosters, the ’08 team had a strong talent pool. They boasted the likes of Kevin Garnett, Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, and Sam Cassell, among others. The ’24 Celtics, on the other hand, aren’t far behind.
Other than the lead duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they also have Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Kristaps Porziņģis, Derrick White, and Sam Hauser. Both teams are neck to neck in terms of talent and depth. However, having the presence of KG, Pierce, Rondo, and Allen gives the ’08 team an edge in experience over the current team.
As for a contest between the two teams, the ’24 team will likely win. Even Pierce agreed on the Dan LeBatard Show that the current team is far more skilled than his team.
In the end, it will be a classic battle between old-school and new-school NBA basketball.
