Paul Pierce says he used to ‘always’ talk smack to a young LeBron James: ‘And he never used to say stuff’

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James said back in the year 2013, then a member of the Miami Heat, that the closest thing to a rivalry he had with any player in the NBA was with Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce, and one can understand why.

James and Pierce were two of the top players at the small forward position in the league in parts of the 2000s and 2010s and butted heads in the Eastern Conference playoffs on a number of occasions.

But the genesis of the dynamic between Pierce and James might date back to before all of their playoff battles. Pierce admitted to sports pundit Skip Bayless recently that he “always” talked trash to James when he was a youngster to try to get in his head, presumably in large part during James’ first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Oh, all the time,” Pierce said of how often he’d try to get in James’ head. “The thing is, I would always talk to him, and he never used to say stuff, right? He never talked. I would say little things to him, jab at him, especially when he at the free-throw line, Skip. I would always talk to him ’cause he would miss crucial free throws. I would just — I know that got to him the most early in his career.”

James, never an elite free-throw shooter during his NBA career, shot 74.2 percent from the charity stripe during his first stint with the Cavs.

“Yes, yes, while he’s at the line,” Pierce said of the trash-talk. “Early reputation, he wasn’t making critical free throws. I was like, ‘Well, you know he gonna miss.’ I would tell him, like, ‘Oh, this is that time of the game where he not gonna make these, y’all. Don’t even worry about it, just get ready to rebound.'”

It’s interesting that James “never used to say stuff,” according to Pierce. James has shown that he doesn’t always need to talk trash in order to make a statement. Given his talent, he can let his play do the talking, and one can’t argue with the results, as he’s a four-time champion and one of the most accomplished players in league history.

Pierce accomplished a whole lot during his playing days in the NBA as well, but his resume ultimately doesn’t stack up with that of James. The 47-year-old earned 10 All-Star nods — with every one of those coming during his time playing for the storied Celtics franchise — and won the only NBA title of his career in the year 2008.

James also got the better of Pierce in a majority of the playoff matchups between the two players. Pierce eliminated James in the 2008 and 2010 NBA Playoffs, but James then went on to send Pierce home in the 2011, 2012 and 2014 NBA Playoffs.

Pierce is long retired from the world’s best basketball league, as he last suited up with the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2016-17 campaign. However, James is still thriving in the league at his advanced age and is hoping to lead the Lakers deep into the 2025 NBA Playoffs.