LeBron James Reflects On What Paul Pierce Meant to Him and His Career

LeBron James discusses how playing against Paul Pierce made him a better player and deserves a spot in his book.

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Complex Original

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Have we seen the last of Paul Pierce? After falling to the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semis, Pierce didn't sound all that confident about returning to the NBA for an 18th season. If Pierce does decide to retire from the league, he had an illustrious career which included one championship, an NBA Finals MVP award and 10 All-Star selections, as well as "a Cliff note or a couple notes in my book," according to LeBron James

As the Cleveland Cavaliers wait for their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Hawks to get underway on Wednesday, James spoke with Cleveland.com, reflecting on what Pierce meant to him and his career. "I've been competing against him my whole career and our battles that we've had, our differences that we've had," he said. "But you know one thing about it, when you face him; you're going to always compete. I wish him the best in whatever he decides to do."

Throughout his career, LeBron has had some incredible battles with Pierce. Sometimes, James was on the winning end, like in 2011, 2012, 2014. Other times, such as 2008 and 2010, Pierce and his team came out on top. Either way, The King acknowledges that The Truth brought out the best in him. "Obviously he gets a Cliff note or a couple notes in my book as far as guys that helped me get over the hump or kept me where I was at the time," he admits. "I knew I had to become much better individually. He's one of those guys."

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[via Cleveland.com]

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