Remember when The Truth was in LA for five minutes? Like no one counts Wizards Jordan, there’s not much to Paul Pierce’s Clippers’ tenure. Now his biggest opponent of the time is suiting up for the Clippers. And James Harden isn’t nearly as gassed out at this stage of his career. He’s a cliffhanger with a beard who remains a title contender on his own. A perfect subject to document in season 2 of Starting 5.
The Netflix series pulled Paul Pierce into the mix to talk about The Beard. Harden arrived in the league the year after Pierce won a championship. He didn’t get the Celtics’ prime scorer.
Pierce was still moving up on the all-time scoring list at the Nets, and hitting buzzer-beaters for the Wizards. He was, however, a veteran role player for the Clippers, in the background of the Lob City stars. Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets had an offensive juggernaut in James Harden. Not surprisingly, The Beard made The Truth quake in his Nikes when the Clippers and Rockets faced off.
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“He really is a rockstar. He’s one of the most influential players that we don’t talk about,” Pierce said on Starting 5. He claimed no one wanted to be on Harden’s highlight tapes. Once, Harden’s overwhelming personality even terrified him.
“I remember, I was with the Clippers and I am in front of Harden, like, ‘Oh, damn.’ I am like, ‘Hell naah!’” He, nor the archive footage, clarify which game he’s referring to. Maybe it was the game in 2016, which the Clippers won 122-106 off the back of JJ Redick’s shooting and where Harden had 33 points. Pierce had returned from a toe injury in this game to play 18 minutes and score 7 points.
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It could also be the 2017 game when Lob City routed the Rockets 125-96 during one of Harden’s more underwhelming games. Pierce scored 10 points in the final five minutes of this game to move a little higher in the all-time scoring list with 26k+ points. That was Pierce’s last playoff appearance before he was was waived by LA. He’d immediately sign a ceremonial contract with the Celtics where he was a franchise star.
Now Pierce is retired and Harden is on the Clippers with former Lob City titan Chris Paul, possibly on the cusp of history. “If Harden was able to get the Clippers a chip, we are going to have some crazy conversations about where he stands as an all-time.”
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This is a different topic from how Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett won Boston its 17th title. Circumstances like these make a franchise star like Dwyane Wade to Miami Heat and if Reggie Miller or Tyrese Haliburton would’ve led the Pacers to a chip.
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Paul Pierce is on a James Harden campaign
This isn’t of course a brand new Paul Pierce take. He’s long maintained that James Harden is the most underrated player in the league. He said something similar with a slight brow-raising twist a year ago. (Given the timing, he might’ve been smack in the middle of filming Starting 5 too.)
“Everybody talks, they say Curry (is) the reason we play – I think a lot of the reason we play like this is James Harden… Step-back threes, everybody going into their bag, and getting to their threes. That’s James Harden, that’s not Curry…” he said right as Harden was making his 70th triple-double and 100th 40-point game.
There is an argument to be made that The Beard is a cultural influence on his own. The Steph Curry comparison was a little hard to swallow.
Curry made the pure 3-point shot popular league-wide as an effective method to win championships. See: Boston Celtics who invited the ’08 champs, including Pierce, to the 18th championship parade. (How likely are the Clippers to invite Pierce if Harden led them to a championship?)
Harden’s offensive style that wins consecutive scoring titles, leading the league in assists and making a deliberate push to the free throw line is hard to imitate. Though arguably, two players who are currently ranked among the best in the world – Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – have got Harden’s style down. SGA has managed to prove that the style can win a championship, make franchise history, and trigger an all-time discussion.
There is some truth to (sorry, not sorry) The Truth. Let’s see if it manifests.