Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green looked back at his infamous comments towards Paul Pierce where he compared him to Kobe Bryant.
Near the end of Pierce’s career when he was with the Los Angeles Clippers, Green took a shot at Pierce during a game, claiming that Pierce was “chasing” a farewell tour. He also went on to say that the Clippers star wasn’t Bryant, who had received a ton of love during his final season and games in the NBA.
Green shared his side of the situation on the Club 520 Podcast, revealing that Pierce was talking to him from the bench.
“It really pissed me off because I’m like, ‘Now you got me off my square,’” Green said of Pierce’s trash-talking. “‘You got me jumping at a Blake Griffin pump fake.’ And, I’m just like, ‘Bro, shut up. You ain’t like that. You chasing this farewell tour, and you ain’t like that.’”
Green did end up giving Pierce some love, but he also believes that he was right to say that the former Boston Celtics star was not on the same level as Bryant.
“The reality is, you don’t get a nickname like ‘The Truth’ if you not nice,” Green said. “So, Paul Pierce is nice. However, with Kobe passing away, that statement, it did not age like spoiled milk. Because, we saw the magnitude of Kob’ once he passed. The world stopped. And so, when you look back on that statement, it was the truth.”
Bryant and Pierce both are Hall of Famers, but Green clearly believes that Bryant was on a different level than Pierce during their playing careers.
A five-time NBA champion, former league MVP and two-time NBA Finals MVP, Bryant is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in NBA history. The NBA has done several things to honor Bryant after his death, including naming the All-Star Game MVP trophy after him.
During his career, Bryant was named the All-Star Game MVP four times, tying him with Bob Pettit for the most all time.
After Bryant’s passing, several teams and players paid tribute to the NBA legend, showing just how big of an impact he made on the NBA during his career.
Pierce did win an NBA title in his career, beating Bryant and the Lakers when he was with the Celtics. However, the Hall of Famer finished his career with eight fewer All-Star selections and 11 fewer All-NBA selections than Bryant.
There aren’t many players that can match up with Bryant’s resume, which is part of the reason why his final season in the NBA – including his 60-point game in his final contest – simply was different than Pierce’s.
