It’s not a secret that Paul Pierce and LeBron James don’t like each other. They starred in some of the best playoff series in NBA history, and those Boston Celtics – Miami Heat games were always must-watch television.
It’s also pretty obvious that Pierce likes to take down LeBron as often as he can. He was as petty as he could be when he was forced to talk about him on ESPN, and his matchups with James were always personal.
Now, The Truth has finally revealed how the rivalry started, and it turns out that it goes all the way back to James’ first preseason game with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Apparently, the bench got chippy and Pierce spat on them.
NBA News: Paul Pierce Reveals Why He Hates LeBron James
(Transcript via Heavy)
“I’m glad social media wasn’t out there, because I spit at their bench. I probably would have gotten fined.”
“You know the crazy thing about it was, it was a preseason game, that didn’t mean anything. I don’t know, me and LeBron going back and forth, the bench is yelling at something. And I look over at the bench, and I’m like, ‘That’s why y’all are on the bench’ or something, and I spit at them.”
“And I’m not sure I hit somebody or not, but I spit in that direction. And then it just kind of — tempers flared up, the next thing you know, we was in the hallway, it was about to go down. That’s just kind of, like, the basis of everything.”
Kendrick Perkins Confirms Pierce’s Story
Former player turned analyst Kendrick Perkins, who was teammates with Pierce back then; recently confirmed the story. Per Pierce, both teams were actually looking forward to getting physical:
“It ended up turning up. After the game, both teams were meeting in the back,” Perkins said. “We had guys ready to fight. We had to hold people back. Guys were ready to fight. Ever since that moment, LeBron James and Paul Pierce hate each other. They don’t speak together, even now today.”
At the end of the day, Pierce built his Hall of Fame résumé and James became one of the greatest players of all time, so it worked out pretty well for both of them.
