NBA star Pierce spoke on social media about the strongest five players in history in his heart. Surprisingly, he included his former sworn enemy James on this list and did not choose to fight himself against Kobe For many years.
The strongest five selected by Pierce are "'Magic' Johnson, Jordan, James, O'Neal, and Garnett." Given the years of hostility between Pierce and James, it is a bit of a surprise that Pierce has chosen James as one of the strongest five in his heart. And this choice may also indicate that Pierce recognizes James' ability and achievements in the position of small forward.
Interestingly, Pierce has said in the past that James is not a top five player in history. The reason is that James did not build a team of his own, but ran to join with Wade at his peak, then returned to the Cavaliers, and then went to the Lakers. In Pierce's view, James did not build his own team and did not continue the glory of the team, so he could not become the top five players in history.
At the same time, Pierce also said last summer that if the Lakers can't win the championship in the 2021-22 season, that is, this season, then James can't enter the top five in history. Now, the Lakers don't say that they won the championship, even the playoffs are difficult to guarantee.
But now, Pierce still considers James to be one of the five strongest players in his heart. What led Pierce to think so may be because of different measurement standards. Because the top five players in history, the main measures are personal performance, honor and team performance, but if it is only the five players with the strongest rating, it is from the player's personal ability, honor, team performance is not the most important factor.
The reason why Pierce did not choose Kobe May be because he has chosen Jordan. However, given his many past grudges with James, it is still a bit surprising that he did not choose Kobe Bryant but James. After all, no one stipulates that the five strongest players must have a strict division in each position.