NBA legend Paul Pierce doesn’t believe Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is a top-five player in the league right now. Pierce has Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum ahead of LeBron.
Fellow NBA icon Kevin Garnett, who won a title with Pierce on the Boston Celtics, strongly disagreed.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Pierce and LeBron were fierce rivals during Pierce’s playing career. The Truth has never shied away from criticizing The King and that trend will likely continue for a while.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: LeBron James, Paul Pierce, Los Angeles Lakers Updates
LeBron is averaging 25.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks for the Lakers this season. The four-time MVP and four-time Finals MVP is shooting 55.3% from the field, 40.7% from beyond the arc and 71.7% from the free-throw line.
The oldest player in the NBA, LeBron is ninth in total points, 15th in points per game, eighth in total assists, 14th in assists per game and eighth in player efficiency rating. The Lakers won the NBA In-Season Tournamnent in Las Vegas, with LeBron winning the MVP Award.
“I don’t think it’s even about the MVP. It’s about us coming together to win this thing,” LeBron told ESPN’s Malika Andrews during the trophy ceremony. “This is the [inaugural] in-season tournament. … Records will be broken, but one thing that will never be broken is to be the first to do something. And we’re the first champions of the in-season tournament, and nobody can ever top that, and it’s great to do it with a historical franchise and just a great cast of funny, engaged, competitive men over here.”
A future Hall of Famer, LeBron is arguably the greatest player in NBA history. He’s first all-time in points, fourth in assists, eighth in steals, fifth in triple-doubles, sixth in points per game and third in player efficiency rating.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: LeBron James, Paul Pierce, Los Angeles Lakers Updates
LeBron is the only player in NBA history to rank top-five all-time in both points and assists. He’s also the only player ever with 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 career assists.
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