Paul Pierce inexplicably says LeBron James is not a Top 5 NBA player of all time

We’re not sure what LeBron James did to Paul Pierce, but apparently it was severe. Pierce criticized James on Wednesday, saying James is not one of the Top 5 players in NBA history.

Pierce made those comments on ESPN. He explicitly says James is not in his Top 5 around the 1:26 mark.

Pierce instead names Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant as his Top 5. Those aren’t necessarily bad choices. Most people would consider all of those players as consensus Top 10 picks — if not higher — on a list of the greatest basketball players ever.

Problem is, nearly every list out there puts James in the Top 5. He’s either listed No. 1 or is at No. 2 — behind Jordan — on those lists. It’s possible to put James lower, but dropping him out of the Top 5 is extreme.

While Pierce is entitled to his opinion, he might be allowing bias to cloud his thoughts. James and Pierce reportedly almost fought in 2014, and it seems that bad blood has carried over years after Pierce left the game.

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