The Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets could give fans a show if they meet in the playoffs again this year.
The Nets have a very different look this season after trading both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but it could still be an entertaining matchup, especially after some of their former players appear to have sparked something in the lead-up to the postseason.
The Celtics had hoped for a perfect record against Brooklyn in 2022/23 but ended up losing their last game, though they’ve won the season series and have posted a 3-1 record against their conference rivals.
The Nets ended up getting swept by the Beantown outfit with both KD and Kyrie in the first round of last season’s playoffs, so there are some storylines that could emerge from the Eastern Conference.
Photo: —There was a time when it was the other way around. But you’d have to go back to when the Nets were still in New Jersey.
Back then, they were the team to beat in the East, led by former star point guard Jason Kidd, who’s now the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.
Richard Jefferson Claps Back At Paul Pierce
Richard Jefferson was on that Nets team and enjoyed success, though they never managed to go all the way. So he was pretty surprised to see Paul Pierce having a go at him during an episode of the podcast he hosts with former teammate Kevin Garnett.
Pierce implied that he had a very easy time playing against Jefferson back in the day, so the latter had to take to social media to check him.
Jefferson destroyed Pierce in the clip shown below, offering a backhanded compliment by comparing him to Dwyane Wade and reminding the Hall of Famer of the way the Nets dominated the Celtics during their playing days.
“Bro, we beat you 10 out of 11 times,” Jefferson said. “We beat you three times in the postseason in the conference finals. You want a game; there’s even a Christmas Day game here. Somebody highlight this crisp. We beat you by 40 in front of all of America, and I was the starting small forward.”
It’s all love @paulpierce34 …. I feel like there might be a little bitterness when you talking about the sweetness. Congrats on the Hall of Fame pic.twitter.com/JZNJpPfrT7
— Richard Jefferson (@Rjeff24) March 13, 2023
Jefferson rightly noted that he was not half the player Pierce was, but his response to the former Celtics star’s shade is comedy special material. While Jefferson and the Nets weren’t able to win a title, they went to two NBA Finals and were simply unfortunate to have been at their peak at the same time the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs were.
A jab from someone playing for either one of those teams would have been acceptable. However, it was pretty ill-advised coming from Pierce.
Photo: —The Celtics would go on to beat the Lakers in the finals to win a championship in 2008, and Paul is a Hall of Famer as a result. It appears the Celtics are back on the up after going to the finals last year, and, despite a coaching change under shocking circumstances, they could be back this year. They’re the second favorites to go all the way this year at 3/1, and the city should be rife with betting as sportsbook promotions in Massachusetts are now accessible to players.
The Nets, on the other hand, are way down the favorites table at 200/1. But given the drama noted above, the next matchup between the two teams could be even more interesting.
Why Did Jefferson Bring Up Dwyane Wade?
By the way, the mention of Wade there wasn’t random. Jefferson was making reference to that time Pierce claimed to have had a better NBA career than the former Miami Heat shooting guard and was methodically ripped apart by Jalen Rose.
Asked who had the better metier between him and Wade, Pierce said the following.
“That’s easy! I can say that off the bat. That’s me. If you give me Shaq, if you give me LeBron … If you give me these guys earlier in my career … When I was 24 years old if you give me Shaq. When I’m 24 or 25, you give me LeBron and Bosh; I’d be sitting on five or six championships. Easy.”
Rose would proceed to explain exactly why the ex-Celtic was wrong.
“He’s made All-NBA First Team twice, Paul hasn’t done it,” he pointed out..” He made All-NBA 8 times to your 4, he made an All-Defensive team 3 times to your 0, he won 1 scoring title, you weren’t able to win a scoring title, and he has 3 rings while you only have 1.”
In case you haven’t seen the clip, it’s right below.
Never forget when Paul Pierce said he was better than D-Wade… and Jalen Rose responded with this🤣 pic.twitter.com/A1Yq8sHUS8
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) August 7, 2022
The look on Paul’s face tells it all, plus the female host piles on to make him feel even worse.
Pierce does have a point when it comes to Wade’s Heat teammates, but he also had Garnett and Ray Allen for several years and only ended up winning one championship.
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