Paul Pierce comes out swinging after people like J.R. Smith ruthlessly clap back at him for cocky question

Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce is in the news once again.

It all began when Pierce himself posed a question about whether or not anyone could beat a starting lineup made up of Kevin Garnett, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and himself.

It didn’t take long for J.R. Smith to respond to the question with a simple yet stabbing response.

Smith’s response from earlier in the week caused quite a stir on social media, and many took it as an opportunity to somewhat bag on Pierce.

Pierce himself clearly caught wind of all the people having a good time at his expense, and he took to social media once again to make a statement about those questioning the strength of his hypothetical Celtics lineup.

Of course, his response gave Twitter users yet another opportunity to try to twist the knife, and one user did just that by claiming that the point guard position — which would be Smart’s duty in the lineup — was “mid.”

Pierce responded to that dig as well.

The unknown user got the last word in, however, by seemingly poking fun at Pierce for even responding to him in the first place.

In the end, this is one of the primary reasons why so many love Twitter. It gives people an opportunity to have a direct line to some of the most famous individuals in the worlds of sports, business, entertainment and more. Typically, these interactions don’t end up going so well for the famous individuals involved for one reason or another.

When it comes to Pierce’s original assertion, there is no question that the hypothetical Celtics lineup would be a good one. After all, Pierce and Garnett won a title together back in 2008. The two made it back to the NBA Finals in 2010, but ultimately fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in one of the greatest Finals series in recent memory.

As for the younger portion of the hypothetical lineup, Tatum, Brown and Smart are looking to get over the hump and win a title this season. They represented the Eastern Conference in the 2022 NBA Finals, but fell short of accomplishing the ultimate goal.

They look to be on course to get a great chance to take care of business this season, as the Celtics currently have the best record in the entire league.