"You have to talk about LeBron all the time" - Paul Pierce on his strained relationship with ESPN and why he eventually left
Recently, former Boston Celtics player Paul Pierce was fired from ESPN after working for years as an NBA analyst after a rather lewd Instagram Live video went viral around April 2021. Pierce, who was recently selected as a member of the 2021 NBA Hall of Fame class, recently spoke about the incident in detail during an interview.
While Paul Pierce, by his own admission, had no idea that the video in question was about to go viral, he recently claimed that he is not sorry for everything that happened. In fact, Pierce was asked by his long-term agent Jeff Schwartz to post a public apology, something he refused to do. In this article, we look at why Paul Pierce claims his relationship with ESPN came to an end long before the Instagram Live video went viral on social media.
2021 NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce opens up about the reason why he left ESPN
While the Instagram Live video led to a total breakdown of the relationship between ESPN and Paul Pierce, the former NBA star and 2008 champion claimed that he wanted to leave ESPN anyway:
“I was done with them, anyway. It wasn’t a great fit. There’s a lot of stuff over there that you can’t say. And you have to talk about LeBron all the time.”
In his own words, Paul Pierce did not like the travel, and thought that as an ESPN analyst he had to speak about LeBron James a bit too much. Regardless, the Instagram Live video in the end led to ESPN officially terminating Paul Pierce’s contract. The video in question featured Paul Pierce drinking and enjoying with his friends, and also featured multiple strip-dancers:
“Come on, I didn’t do anything illegal. These mother*****s in the Hall of Fame, some did [drugs], f***ing battery. What the f*** did I do? I was just having a good time. All the people coming after me, half you mother*****s do the same s***. You’re just hiding it. And you all are married while you’re doing it. I’m divorced. I’m retired. I’m having fun. And if Hall voters had held it against him? Listen, if I didn’t make it with this class, it would be the biggest stiff job in Hall of Fame history.”
Hence, while the video did lead to him getting fired from ESPN, Paul Pierce believes that the relationship between the organization and him had been on verge of breaking down long before. Additionally, he believes that he did nothing wrong, and claimed that quite a few other Hall of Famers have gotten away with illegal acts as well.
After the incident, Paul Pierce’s agent Jeff Schwartz made him speak to Jerry Colangelo, who suggested that he should come out and say something about the incident. Of course, an apology proved out of the question, as Pierce claimed that he never thought about the Hall of Fame as a kid:
“It’s hard to be a kid and say, “I want to make the Hall of Fame.” I think all the players who make it play like they are going to go out and go as hard as they can, and the results at the end of the day, that’s what your career is.”
Hence, while the Instagram Live video played a huge part in him parting ways with ESPN, Paul Pierce’s relationship with the network was already close to ending.