"I rub people the wrong way" - Paul Pierce confronts 3x NBA champion for igniting beef over their NBA rivalry

Paul Pierce joined "The Dan Le Batard Show" and one of the things that was discussed was the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat rivalry. A clip of Udonis Haslem saying he doesn't like Pierce and his teammates was played for the ex-Celtics player. In the clip, Haslem also claimed that he let the Celtics players know how he felt. After it was over, Pierce was asked about Haslem's comments.

Pierce responded by saying that he can't recall Haslem ever explicitly saying that he doesn't like any of the Celtics players directly to them. Pierce also continued by taking a dig at Haslem.

The former Celtics champion claimed that Haslem never played in a way that portrayed he disliked them. Pierce then implied that the three-time Miami Heat champ was merely stirring up their old rivalry so that Haslem's podcast could gain traction.

"But that's cool," Pierce added after calling out Haslem. "I know I rub people the wrong way. I never liked Miami, I respected them.

"I'm a grown man," Pierce added. "I ain't dodging nothing, people going to say what they want to say so, you know, let it be what it is, I'm gonna be ready for it."

Also read: "He didn’t tell us or warn us" - Paul Pierce rants about Ray Allen covertly plotting trade to Heat in 2012 that sabotaged Celtics

Paul Pierce once claimed that he had a better career than Dwyane Wade

When Paul Pierce was still an analyst with ESPN in 2019, he and his fellow co-hosts played a game comparing Dwyane Wade's career with other NBA greats. Michelle Beadle put Wade side-by-side with other players and asked Jalen Rose, Brian Windhorst and Pierce who they thought was a better player.

After a series of different Wade this-or-that's, Beadle eventually asked Pierce who had the better career between him and the three-time Miami Heat champion. Without hesitation, Pierce immediately said that he did before saying that he would have easily won more titles in his prime if he got to team up with the same players that Wade did.

Both Pierce and Wade had storied NBA careers and can be considered legends in their own right. They each won a plethora of awards and earned several accolades, and they have both won a championship alwong with winning a Finals MVP.

After they decided to hang up their sneakers, both the teams they played for retired their respective jerseys and they were named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team.

They had some heated clashes in the postseason that gave fans something to watch when Dwyane Wade was with Miami and Paul Pierce was in Boston. There is no argument that both of them had fantastic careers.