Paul Pierce joined the celebration of the Boston Celtics‘ 18th title on Tuesday’s “Undisputed,” making it clear how ecstatic he was to see his former team finish off the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals the night prior.
The Celtics icon brought an inflatable leprechaun onto the show’s set to go along with a replica of the Larry O’Brien Trophy, his championship ring from 2008 and a cigar. As he donned a Celtics jacket, Pierce also invited Skip Bayless and Keyshawn Johnson to join him on a duck boat for the championship parade in Boston on Friday.
Once he got past celebrating the title, Pierce shared his reasons why he thought the Celtics needed just five games to beat the Mavericks. He first pointed to Jaylen Brown, calling the Celtics wing “the best player in the world” after winning Finals MVP.
“He just showed why, and I truly believe this, he’s the best two-way player in the NBA,” Pierce said. “You talk about the way he scores the ball — he averages between 23 and 25 points per game — but he should be on the all-defensive team. … [Other players] know that Jaylen Brown’s one of the best two-way players in all of the NBA. It showed in the biggest stage and in the biggest moment.”
Brown didn’t have his best offensive showing in the NBA Finals, scoring 20.8 points per game on 44% shooting from the field and 23.5% shooting from deep. But he showed off his defensive prowess, recording a team-high 1.6 steals per game and had four blocks in the series. He mostly did that while guarding Mavericks star Luka Doncic and occasionally defended Kyrie Irving.
Pierce’s praise for individual players didn’t end at Brown. As he called for Bayless to apologize to Jayson Tatum, Pierce also proclaimed that the duo Derrick White and Jrue Holiday is the best backcourt in the NBA.
“[White] might be one of the most underrated players in the NBA,” Pierce said. “For the series, he averaged [13.8] points per game. That’s huge for your third or fourth option. Actually, he could be your fourth or fifth option. If you throw [Kristaps] Porzingis in the mix, you’ve got Derrick White and Jrue Holiday who all flip [their roles] as third, fourth and fifth options. These are your third, fourth and fifth options. This team, moving forward, is going to be tough to beat.”
The Celtics’ guards, who both made second-team NBA All-Defensive this season, had strong moments offensively at different moments in the NBA Finals. Holiday scored a team-high 26 points on 11 of 14 shooting…
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