Former NBA player and ESPN analyst Paul Pierce have sparked controversy with his recent comments about the dynamic of the Philadelphia 76ers’ shooting guard James Harden and Boston Celtics’ shooting guard Jaylen Brown.
The Boston Celtics currently have a bunch of young talents in the squad including the dynamic trio of Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Brown in both defense and offense, albeit Tatum is the one to grab most of the praise.
The 26-year-old earlier caused worry among Boston Celtics fans as when asked about staying in Boston for a long time in an interview with Logan Murdock last week, the shooting guard was noncommittal about his future with the team saying he would play where he is “wanted”,” needed”, and “treated correct”.
Why did Paul Pierce compare James Harden with Jaylen Brown?
The former Boston Celtics player opened up about his thoughts on shooting guard in an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio by drawing a comparison to Brown’s situation to a few other players in the past who found fame on their second team.
Pierce stated, “Maybe Jaylen wants the opportunity to be the guy,” suggesting that Brown may have wanted out of Boston as he was tired of playing second fiddle to Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum.
“I’ve seen this for years as guys have left teams. Just think of James Harden. James Harden wouldn’t be James Harden if he didn’t leave (the Oklahoma City Thunder). Tracy McGrady wouldn’t have turned into T-Mac if he didn’t leave Toronto. You never know. Maybe that’s on Jaylen’s mind or maybe he’ll stay.” Pierce added.
Paul Pierce compares Jaylen Brown’s situation in Boston to James Harden’s situation in OKC and Tracy McGrady’s situation in Toronto
"Maybe Jaylen wants the opportunity to be 'the guy'"
(Via @SiriusXMNBA ) pic.twitter.com/8JjhOOJAXh
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 24, 2023
Pierce’s comments quickly made waves in the NBA community, with many fans taking to social media to share their own thoughts on the matter. While some agreed with Pierce’s assessment, maximum fans were more critical, suggesting that Pierce was simply trying to stir up controversy.
Not exactly a great comparison, harden showed in Houston that in the big moments he couldn’t be THAT guy, tho to be fair brown is a MUCH better player in Boston than harden was in OKC
— NMH (@nosmhsnow) March 24, 2023
A fan commented having only one superstar player in a team isn’t usual presently as almost every team are having multiple veteran players, hence Brown can’t be “the guy”.
It’s not the same because there is no “the guy” anymore, it’s more like “the guys”, every team is getting multiple superstar players in order to win, the era of a team having one star player is over.
— jamie (@jamie45932664) March 24, 2023
A user predicted some teams for Brown stating that none of these teams would be good for him.
He’s not that guy, but to entertain the thought: Which team will Brown be the guy on?
– Detroit, Charlotte, Houston, San Antonio?The trade here would be bad for Brown for sure.
— Tushar Rathi (@TusharRathi_) March 24, 2023
Some fans also pointed out that Brown has already established himself as a key player on the Celtics, and it is his and Tatum’s team.
He’s already the guy the Celtics is his and Tatum team
— Troy Simons (@ImUpNext3) March 24, 2023
However, some fans defended Pierce, saying his comment was simply an observation about the potential motivations behind Brown’s desire to leave Boston, and he was entitled to his opinion.
Despite the controversy, it seems likely that the conversation around Brown and his role on the Celtics team will continue to be a hot topic in the NBA world as Brown himself stated some cryptic things earlier.
