Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce got the better of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and company in the 2008 NBA Finals. Pierce had plenty of help, as he had teammates like Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo at the time, but Pierce was the driving force for the Celtics as they beat the Lakers in six games. Pierce earned Finals MVP honors for Boston.
According to Pierce, he brought Bryant’s loss in the 2008 NBA Finals up when Bryant was at the free-throw line in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, and what happened next led Pierce to believe that he and Bryant were about to fight then and there.
“Oh, check this out,” Pierce said. “This is a good one. We beat them in 2008. So, in 2009, the All-Star Game, I’m on the bench, and he’s at the free-throw line, and I yell from the bench, like, ‘He gonna choke like he did in the Finals last year.’ Man, he got — he literally walked off the free-throw line, walked over to the bench and got in my face. I thought we were gonna go to blows…in the All-Star Game. I thought in the All-Star Game, 2009. I stood up — we were face to face, right there. I thought we were gonna go to blows.”
Against Bryant and the Lakers with a title at stake, Pierce averaged 21.8 points, 6.3 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game in that 2008 series. Additionally, he shot 43.2 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from 3-point range.
Pierce won the first and only NBA title of his playing career that year, though he did reach the championship series one more time after 2008, and that came in 2010. Ironically, the Celtics played the Lakers once again in the 2010 NBA Finals, and Bryant got his revenge against Pierce and Boston in that series.
The Lakers won the series in question in seven games. The Celtics held a 3-2 lead at one point in the best-of-seven series but then proceeded to drop Games 6 and 7.
In the deciding Game 7, Bryant posted a game-high 23 points even though he didn’t shoot the ball all that well from the field, as he misfired on all but six of his 24 shot attempts. The shooting guard also didn’t connect on a single one of his six shots from behind the 3-point line.
While Pierce came out on top against Bryant in the first NBA Finals matchup between the two players, it was the latter who ultimately got the last laugh. Bryant retired with far more NBA titles to his name than Pierce did to boot, as he won five championships during his playing days.
