Paul Pierce and LeBron James were most definitely rivals on the court and the two clearly have a dislike for each other.
That fact was brought up when Pierce recently stated that LeBron shouldn’t ever be in the top-5 conversation for all-time great NBA players.
Those comments led to Kendrick Perkins telling ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth and Amin Elhassan about the spark that led to the feud, noting that Pierce was fed up with all the “Chosen One” talk surrounding James’ entry to the league.
His anger led to him spitting in the direction of James’ direction on the bench during a preseason game in 2004.
“Paul is talking noise to the bench, right?” Perkins said. “He’s talking big noise to the Cavs bench, and they’re sitting over there, Bron and them, they’re all sitting over there. … Paul actually spits over there at the bench, right? The ultimate disrespect.”
Pierce was fined $15,000 by the NBA for his actions. He says the disrespect between the two is still palpable.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NBA stories via Google! Follow Us
Perkins also divulged what happened after the game ended.
“After the game, both teams were beating in the back,” he said. “Guys were ready to fight. We had to hold people back.”
“Ever since that moment,” Perkins said. “LeBron James and Paul Pierce hate each other. They don’t speak to each other. Even now, today.”
Not to mention, Pierce had to watch as LeBron and the Cavs blew out the Celtics just before his jersey retirement in 2018.
