Paul Pierce’s recent comments on the Los Angeles Lakers and the Lakers-Celtics rivalry have been gaining a lot of traction lately. One of the most prominent figures to call out Pierce is three-time All-Star Gilbert Arenas. Recently on the Gil’s Arena podcast, the former NBA star cleared the air on the championships won by the Boston Celtics and more importantly, how irrelevant the team has been in the last 30 years.
Advertisement
Paul Pierce was a guest on the Undisputed Show with veteran NBA analyst Skip Bayless. While on the show, The Truth went on to say,
“I guarantee y’all this. We will win our 18th Championship before the Lakers… Y’all won that bubble Championship…that Mickey Mouse Championship. Y’all going to count that!?”
This led Gilbert Arenas to snap back at Pierce’s comments, taking a shot at the initial championships won by the Boston Celtics during the 1950s and 60s.
“Boston won 11 Championships during the 8-10 team AAU schedule. Boston has 13 AAU Rings.”
After leaving that comment under one of the Undisputed’s videos of Pierce on Instagram, Gilbert Arenas went on to double down on his take on the most recent episode of Gil’s Arena podcast.
“95% of the championships was created before Paul Pierce was even born, that’s one. Two, I don’t even know if anybody is alive to remember when they won championships back in those 50 days…Those AAU championships was really less than the Mickey Mouse one.”
Arenas went on to add that in the last 30 years, the Boston side has been irrelevant in basketball history and concluded that nobody remembers.
“You’re walking around like you f**king like your sh*t is on your chest. Nobody remembers you.”
Gilbert Arenas’ comments regarding the Boston Celtics may hurt the sentiments of Celtics’ loyal. However, it’s the fact that the Celtics have won just one single championship in the past 30 years.
The Los Angeles Lakers on the other hand have won six NBA championships since the early 2000s. But coming back to Arenas’ take, the majority of the Celtics championships came when the league only had eight teams back in the day, with no free agency or any other factors coming into play.
Arenas also emphasized the fact that the Celtics had all the best players in the league because the team was prominent from the start and was able to attract and sign players to their club.
And looking at Boston’s recent championship record, the team has only won one NBA title in the past three decades. Which, Arenas went on to draw comparisons between the Celtics and the Toronto Raptors, who recently won their first NBA championship in franchise history, saying both teams have the same bragging rights if their recent championship history was taken into consideration.
Breaking down Gilbert Arenas’ take
Gilbert Arenas did not hold back when it came to quashing Paul Pierce’s comments. He took shots at the league’s AAU schedule of having just eight teams in the league, having no African American players as well as no free agency. His whole take was reliant on getting the point across that the Celtics were boasting their legacy on championships won when there was barely any competition.
And to think of it, he wasn’t wrong at all. The Boston Celtics won their first NBA title back in 1957 against the St. Louis Hawks. The Celtics continued to win consecutive titles from 1959 to 1966 when the league had eight teams.
It wasn’t until the 1966-67 season that the league started to expand and new teams started to join the league. Back then, there were only two teams and it wasn’t until the 1968-69 season that the league expanded to 14 teams.
The Celtics dominated when there were barely any teams in the league along with barely any good players that opposing teams could boast. Wilt Chamberlain was the only prominent player to have given Bill Russell and the Celtics a run for their money. So, to think of it, Gilbert Arenas may not be entirely wrong after all. But that is for the fans to decide.
