LeBron James' former arch nemesis fires away at Lakers star, calls him out on posting empty stats
LeBron James has plenty of haters, and Paul Pierce has always been among those unafraid to criticize him. The two had plenty of battles on the floor during various Eastern Conference playoffs, and Pierce was at it again making critiques on LeBron James’ current season with the Lakers. Pierce made the comments on notable LeBron James hater Skip Bayless’ show, “Undisputed.”
Pierce said James is having a great statistical season but thinks it is not helping the Lakers.
“I am tired of the Lakers. The Lakers are going to lose and LeBron will get 40. He is great at getting his stats. The truth is, yes, LeBron has been great numbers-wise but he needs to take a step back. He needs to give up the ball more,” Pierce said. “He is older and needs to give the ball up.”
James has been putting up insane stats since the All-Star break, averaging 29 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. He is shooting 57 percent from the field and 45 percent from beyond the arc. Pierce admitted the stats were impressive but does not think the Lakers deserve the headlines.
“I don’t even know why we are talking about the 10th-seed Lakers anyway. Why are we even talking about them?” Pierce said.
The former Celtic also said the Lakers looked better without James in the lineup. He said their wins against the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics without James are their best moments of the season. Pierce was adamant that James needed to let his teammates do more. He thinks his dominance is hiding the potential of the other Laker stars.
“Reaves looked like the next Larry Bird without LeBron,” Pierce said.
Reaves had 18 points in the 123-122 win against the Bucks when James was out. He shot 7/12 from the field and 2/5 from 3-point range.
LeBron James launches a podcast with JJ Redick
LeBron James was also in the news as he announced an upcoming podcast with JJ Redick, which is dropping this week. The show will be called, “Mind the Game.” It is unknown who is backing the podcast corporately, if at all. It will be a co-production by James’ Uninterrupted and Redick’s ThreeFourTwo Productions.
Episodes will be released weekly beginning on Tuesday. The show will also have a video element and stream on YouTube.
The show is intended to break down the X’s and O’s of the game and will not be a hot-take show. It should be an exciting collaboration between the two basketball junkies, as they have plenty of experience to share.