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While LeBron James was a man on a mission in Saturday night's In-Season Tournament championship game against the Indiana Pacers, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce disagreed on his current ranking among NBA players. From Pierce's point of view, the LA Lakers star didn't belong in the top five, which Garnett disagreed with on "Showtime Basketball."
Garnett and Pierce had numerous duels with James when the two Boston Celtics legends played. The competition was always fierce with the three stars as they played some of the best basketball in their careers.
However, their history didn't stop Kevin Garnett from praising James for what he has accomplished and what he's still doing in the league today. There are no players who can say that they were still playing basketball at an elite level late in their careers like James as he nears 39 years of age.
Here's what Garnett said to Pierce when Pierce snubbed the 19-time NBA All-Star from his top five:
"Get your a** outta here," Garnett said. "I saw Joel Embiid have 15 points in the final game. Get your garbage a** outta here. F*** is you talking about, bum? Motherf***ing (Joel) Embiid at 15 points in a Game 7 (against Boston in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals)."
Paul Pierce had Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Jayston Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid ahead of LeBron James in today's league. Kevin Garnett wasn't having it as he considered those players as "puppies" who were still not there yet when it came to James' stature.
From Garnett's perspective, he would not pick Pierce's choices ahead of James, due to what the Lakers star is still capable of doing at his age.
Kevin Garnett deems LeBron James as his GOAT
On "The Stephen A. Smith Show," Kevin Garnett said he considers LeBron James the best.
"He's my GOAT of all of this," Garnett said. "The business, the everything. He's the vision of what every Black man should aspire for, has been a billionaire, having your own labels. Like, he's set the tone. I played against bro, it ain't personal anymore.
"I'm watching as a fan, and I'm giving him flowers, and I'm looking at it from a different perspective of things that I've never seen in the game."
