"I strive to be this delusional": Paul Pierce catches flak from NBA fans for "LeBron voted me GOAT" claim

Former NBA star Paul Pierce recently talked about the possibility of LA Lakers star LeBron James voting him as the GOAT of the NBA. The Athletic recently released their third anonymous poll of players, and one of the categories involved voting for the GOAT.

Michael Jordan received 45.9% of the votes as the GOAT. James trailed the Chicago Bulls legend at the second spot with 42.1%. Third place belonged to Kobe Bryant, who had 9.8%.

Steph Curry and Magic Johnson made up the top five. The former Boston Celtics star had 0.8% of votes, which tied him with Johnson. Since the voting is anonymous, no one knows which players voted for whom, leading Pierce to speculate that maybe James was the one who cast the vote for him as the GOAT.

"What if LBJ voted for me? I did play against him. He must think something," Pierce said on "Undisputed."

Fans who saw what Pierce said about the voting immediately had to address his claims. Here are some of what fans said.

"I strive to be this delusional," one fan said.

"Bro telling himself anything at this point," a fan tweeted about Pierce's recent takes.

"He 100% did vote for Paul Pierce……as a joke," @Underrated_Dom wrote.

A few fans were certain that Pierce was messing around with his comment.

"He definitely said this as a joke, but great engagement bait," a fan wrote.

"Paul Pierce funny for this," one fan tweeted.

"Trolling at its finest.. can’t b mad at Pierce," another fan wrote.

Because it's an anonymous poll, there could be an NBA player who thinks Pierce is the greatest player of all time.

---

Paul Pierce trolled LeBron James and the Lakers after Game 2 loss

Players from the Lakers still haven't gotten over their 101-99 Game 2 loss against the Denver Nuggets that ended with a game-winning shot by Jamal Murray on Monday. Since the loss was still fresh, Pierce trolled LeBron James and Co. with his choice of shirt.

Pierce appeared on "Undisputed" with a shirt saying, "Who's Your Daddy?" The former Celtics star was proud of what he wore and showed it off to viewers.

This was a reference to Nuggets coach Mike Malone trolling the Lakers in the 2023 NBA playoffs. The LA team has not won a game against Denver in the postseason for some time. The last time the Lakers did so was in the 2020 playoffs.