Credit: Twitter

Credit: Twitter

Paul Pierce has recently hit back at articles that claim he compared himself favorably to Dwayne Wade, or that he implied he was better than the three-time NBA champion. Pierce took to Twitter to write a long message where he clarified his position and gave his respect to Wade. The 2008 NBA champion made the point that the narrative around his career has been affected by the quality of teams he was on, rather than being about his individual quality.

Pierce recently spoke about his career and used Dwayne Wade as a reference and pointed to the star-studded Miami Heat teams, Wade had the opportunity to play with during his time in the NBA. Wade is a 13-time NBA All-Star and has one NBA Finals MVP along with 3 NBA Championships. On the other hand, Paul Pierce has one NBA Championship and one NBA Finals MVP and is a ten-time NBA All-Star. Paul Pierce said he would have more NBA rings if he had the star talent around him that Wade did.

Speaking on the “It Is What It Is” show, Pierce said, “Put Shaq on my team. Put LeBron and Bosh with me. I’m not gonna win one? Put me, LeBron and Bosh, we not gonna win a couple?”  This led to a barrage of news stories that said Paul Pierce thought he was better than Dwayne Wade.

Pierce responds on Twitter

Pierce was upset with the way the news covered his statement, and he took to Twitter to respond in an extended rant.  He wrote, “I never compared myself to Dwayne Wade I was ask a question how would u answer if u was me I would never disrespect him he is an all time great all I’m saying is the narrative surrounding me would be different if I was lucky enough to play with all timers”

Pierce won his NBA ring in 2008 with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, though he thought he would win many more if it was earlier in his career.

“My skills went unappreciated because I didn’t get to play with a lot of players,” Pierce stated. “And then I got to play with KG and Ray way past their prime. If four years earlier, you put me, Ray and KG together, you think we ain’t walking away with three chips?”