I notice a lot of hatred for Paul Pierce outside of New England..but why?

[Beat LA]

Pierce had a very nice career, but he made just 1 2nd Team All NBA and 3 3rd Team All NBA.  He never finished in the top 10 in MVP voting.  Never made an All Defense Team. 

He played a very long time and has great totals, but he never had a truly great single season and by the time he found truly great team success was past him prime. 

I just have a hard time calling him underrated.  He had a great career, will be a 1st ballot HOFer, but let's not pretend Pierce was more than he was.  He wasn't an upper echelon player.  Not like James, Durant, etc.

I'm not even sure as to what I can say to something like this - wow . Pierce, Joe Johnson, and Michael Redd were the three most underrated players of their era.

[Eja117]

Because other cities have a lot of loser fans that hate Brady and Bird and Belichick, and Pedro and whoever we got.
Who cares what Vince Carter fans think?

[GratefulCs]

wheelchair

[gouki88]

Pierce had a very nice career, but he made just 1 2nd Team All NBA and 3 3rd Team All NBA.  He never finished in the top 10 in MVP voting.  Never made an All Defense Team. 

He played a very long time and has great totals, but he never had a truly great single season and by the time he found truly great team success was past him prime. 

I just have a hard time calling him underrated.  He had a great career, will be a 1st ballot HOFer, but let's not pretend Pierce was more than he was.  He wasn't an upper echelon player.  Not like James, Durant, etc.

This is just ridiculous. He had multiple seasons with rough averages of 27/7/3-4. That's very comparable to GSW Durant, just less efficient (as was the norm in the early-mid 00's). To say he never has a truly great season is just wrong.

You never cease to surprise me

[Big333223]

Pierce had a very nice career, but he made just 1 2nd Team All NBA and 3 3rd Team All NBA.  He never finished in the top 10 in MVP voting.  Never made an All Defense Team. 

He played a very long time and has great totals, but he never had a truly great single season and by the time he found truly great team success was past him prime. 

I just have a hard time calling him underrated.  He had a great career, will be a 1st ballot HOFer, but let's not pretend Pierce was more than he was.  He wasn't an upper echelon player.  Not like James, Durant, etc.

This is just ridiculous. He had multiple seasons with rough averages of 27/7/3-4. That's very comparable to GSW Durant, just less efficient (as was the norm in the early-mid 00's). To say he never has a truly great season is just wrong.

You never cease to surprise me

Pierce is a first ballot HoF'er no doubt. But he never made an All NBA 1st Team, was never truly an MVP candidate (although I think his contributions to the '08 are sometimes understated) and he had top-end averaged of 27-7-5. Durant has made five 1st Teams, won an MVP, has 4 scoring titles, and top-end averages of 32-8-6.

Pierce is an all time great. But when we're dividing up the greats, Durant is on another level than Pierce.

[SparzWizard]

The way he (and KG) made BKN better right after the blockbuster (and heartbreaking) trade? Those two should have some love in BKN.

The way PP34 hit big shots in WAS during their playoff run a few years ago?

He should have some love in DC.

When he left WAS he took a LOT of heart and leadership with him.

At least THOSE two regions should have some love for PP34.

Brooklyn scorns those two players now because of that blockbuster trade in what landed us Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum and the purgatory of their team NOW.

WAS don't like Pierce anymore. But I was ecstatic to see PP34 knocked that game-tying 3 in Game 6 against Atlanta. Too bad it didn't count by one millisecond.

[gouki88]

Pierce had a very nice career, but he made just 1 2nd Team All NBA and 3 3rd Team All NBA.  He never finished in the top 10 in MVP voting.  Never made an All Defense Team. 

He played a very long time and has great totals, but he never had a truly great single season and by the time he found truly great team success was past him prime. 

I just have a hard time calling him underrated.  He had a great career, will be a 1st ballot HOFer, but let's not pretend Pierce was more than he was.  He wasn't an upper echelon player.  Not like James, Durant, etc.

This is just ridiculous. He had multiple seasons with rough averages of 27/7/3-4. That's very comparable to GSW Durant, just less efficient (as was the norm in the early-mid 00's). To say he never has a truly great season is just wrong.

You never cease to surprise me

Pierce is a first ballot HoF'er no doubt. But he never made an All NBA 1st Team, was never truly an MVP candidate (although I think his contributions to the '08 are sometimes understated) and he had top-end averaged of 27-7-5. Durant has made five 1st Teams, won an MVP, has 4 scoring titles, and top-end averages of 32-8-6.

Pierce is an all time great. But when we're dividing up the greats, Durant is on another level than Pierce.

That wasn’t the point I was trying to make. I wasn’t comparing Pierce and Durant as equals - KD is one of the best scorers ever.

But the point that he’s never had a great season is simply false.
Amare made a First Team. So have DJ and Joakim Noah. So did Latrell Sprewell. Hardly an indicator of a great player

[KungPoweChicken]

Pierce does not seem to be well-liked. That's a shame. He was a great basketball player, never got into any off court trouble (that I know of), and was tough as nails. The wheelchair incident is disappointing because Pierce was definitely one of the toughest players of his era, and he will probably never get the credit for that.

[pearljammer10]

1. He's a Celtic

2. He's a very successful Celtic

3. He was once voted the biggest trash talker in the NBA by the players in the league

[GreenWarrior]

well his entire career he was the most underrated player in the league. he didn't get any recognition until KG got here, so whatever credit and acknowledgement he did get at that point got quickly dismissed as overrated by fans of opposing teams.

Pierce also talked a lot of !@#$. opposing fans saw that more than anything and said "dude you play in Boston, they suck - shut up". opposing fans also apparently never actually watched pierce play. they never saw him carry a bunch of crap into the playoffs and even to the eastern conference finals. sure the east was pretty weak then but there's plenty of other players that did less with more help than pierce had most of his career.

I also blame ESPN/media, there's a lot of sheep out there that take these clowns opinions as gospel. if I listened to them i'd believe Carmelo is a better player than Pierce too.

[Eja117]

Who do these highly knowledgable fans like? Yao Ming? T Mac?  Gilbert Arenas? Melo? CP3?

[Big333223]

Pierce had a very nice career, but he made just 1 2nd Team All NBA and 3 3rd Team All NBA.  He never finished in the top 10 in MVP voting.  Never made an All Defense Team. 

He played a very long time and has great totals, but he never had a truly great single season and by the time he found truly great team success was past him prime. 

I just have a hard time calling him underrated.  He had a great career, will be a 1st ballot HOFer, but let's not pretend Pierce was more than he was.  He wasn't an upper echelon player.  Not like James, Durant, etc.

This is just ridiculous. He had multiple seasons with rough averages of 27/7/3-4. That's very comparable to GSW Durant, just less efficient (as was the norm in the early-mid 00's). To say he never has a truly great season is just wrong.

You never cease to surprise me

Pierce is a first ballot HoF'er no doubt. But he never made an All NBA 1st Team, was never truly an MVP candidate (although I think his contributions to the '08 are sometimes understated) and he had top-end averaged of 27-7-5. Durant has made five 1st Teams, won an MVP, has 4 scoring titles, and top-end averages of 32-8-6.

Pierce is an all time great. But when we're dividing up the greats, Durant is on another level than Pierce.

That wasn’t the point I was trying to make. I wasn’t comparing Pierce and Durant as equals - KD is one of the best scorers ever.

But the point that he’s never had a great season is simply false.
Amare made a First Team. So have DJ and Joakim Noah. So did Latrell Sprewell. Hardly an indicator of a great player

It depends on what you mean by great. He put up some great numbers on some bad teams and didn't have as good of numbers on some great teams. Things never quite lined up right for Paul. But if a "truly great season" is a combination of individual play and team success, I can see how some might think Pierce never had one.

well his entire career he was the most underrated player in the league.

This is the Truth

[gouki88]

Pierce had a very nice career, but he made just 1 2nd Team All NBA and 3 3rd Team All NBA.  He never finished in the top 10 in MVP voting.  Never made an All Defense Team. 

He played a very long time and has great totals, but he never had a truly great single season and by the time he found truly great team success was past him prime. 

I just have a hard time calling him underrated.  He had a great career, will be a 1st ballot HOFer, but let's not pretend Pierce was more than he was.  He wasn't an upper echelon player.  Not like James, Durant, etc.

This is just ridiculous. He had multiple seasons with rough averages of 27/7/3-4. That's very comparable to GSW Durant, just less efficient (as was the norm in the early-mid 00's). To say he never has a truly great season is just wrong.

You never cease to surprise me

Pierce is a first ballot HoF'er no doubt. But he never made an All NBA 1st Team, was never truly an MVP candidate (although I think his contributions to the '08 are sometimes understated) and he had top-end averaged of 27-7-5. Durant has made five 1st Teams, won an MVP, has 4 scoring titles, and top-end averages of 32-8-6.

Pierce is an all time great. But when we're dividing up the greats, Durant is on another level than Pierce.

That wasn’t the point I was trying to make. I wasn’t comparing Pierce and Durant as equals - KD is one of the best scorers ever.

But the point that he’s never had a great season is simply false.
Amare made a First Team. So have DJ and Joakim Noah. So did Latrell Sprewell. Hardly an indicator of a great player

It depends on what you mean by great. He put up some great numbers on some bad teams and didn't have as good of numbers on some great teams. Things never quite lined up right for Paul. But if a "truly great season" is a combination of individual play and team success, I can see how some might think Pierce never had one.

well his entire career he was the most underrated player in the league.

This is the Truth

I’d say him leading pretty garbage to deep playoff runs (namely 01-02) was a good combination of amazing numbers with team success. But to each their own

[Alleyoopster]

1. He's a Celtic

2. He's a very successful Celtic

3. He was once voted the biggest trash talker in the NBA by the players in the league

I don't believe fans get to hear much of the trash talking going on between players. Thus, I wouldn't put much stock in that.

Not only was he a successful basketball player, he's articulate, good looking-dresses smartly, intelligent, has a unique self-depreciating sense of humor, and as an analyst provides insightful commentary.

Having all these qualities and more would make a lot of people envious/jealous. Wouldn't put much stock in the hateful comments one might read on the Internet. Overall, my feeling is most people outside of New England respect and appreciate his talents and demeanor. Unfortunately, the ones that don't.....make the most noise.

[Moranis]

Pierce had a very nice career, but he made just 1 2nd Team All NBA and 3 3rd Team All NBA.  He never finished in the top 10 in MVP voting.  Never made an All Defense Team. 

He played a very long time and has great totals, but he never had a truly great single season and by the time he found truly great team success was past him prime. 

I just have a hard time calling him underrated.  He had a great career, will be a 1st ballot HOFer, but let's not pretend Pierce was more than he was.  He wasn't an upper echelon player.  Not like James, Durant, etc.

This is just ridiculous. He had multiple seasons with rough averages of 27/7/3-4. That's very comparable to GSW Durant, just less efficient (as was the norm in the early-mid 00's). To say he never has a truly great season is just wrong.

You never cease to surprise me

Pierce is a first ballot HoF'er no doubt. But he never made an All NBA 1st Team, was never truly an MVP candidate (although I think his contributions to the '08 are sometimes understated) and he had top-end averaged of 27-7-5. Durant has made five 1st Teams, won an MVP, has 4 scoring titles, and top-end averages of 32-8-6.

Pierce is an all time great. But when we're dividing up the greats, Durant is on another level than Pierce.

That wasn’t the point I was trying to make. I wasn’t comparing Pierce and Durant as equals - KD is one of the best scorers ever.

But the point that he’s never had a great season is simply false.
Amare made a First Team. So have DJ and Joakim Noah. So did Latrell Sprewell. Hardly an indicator of a great player

It depends on what you mean by great. He put up some great numbers on some bad teams and didn't have as good of numbers on some great teams. Things never quite lined up right for Paul. But if a "truly great season" is a combination of individual play and team success, I can see how some might think Pierce never had one.

well his entire career he was the most underrated player in the league.

This is the Truth

I’d say him leading pretty garbage to deep playoff runs (namely 01-02) was a good combination of amazing numbers with team success. But to each their own

and the writers that year put him on the 3rd Team All NBA and voted him 11th in MVP voting.  He also played over 40 mpg (which is great, but also inflates his counting numbers). 

When your best season you finish 11th in MVP voting (he did finish 7th in 08-09 but his numbers were much weaker then and that seemed to be more voting for a Celtic then voting for Pierce), I have hard time saying you had a truly great season.  That is why Pierce isn't underrated.  He is going to make the HOF on the 1st ballot without ever being on the 1st Team All NBA.  That is impressive.