Back In The Day NBA

Social Media Questions Why ESPN Treated Paul Pierce and Shannon Sharpe Differently

Shandel Richardson

February 20, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; NBA great Paul Pierce is honored for being selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team during halftime in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
February 20, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; NBA great Paul Pierce is honored for being selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team during halftime in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

ESPN has some explaining to do to sports fans, especially those in the NBA.

Analyst Shannon Sharpe claimed he accidentally went live on Instagram when audio was heard of him having sex. The network decided not to discipline him after the incident but that wasn't the case when Boston Celtics great Paul Pierce was caught in a similar act.

Pierce was fired in 2021 for posting a video with strippers while playing poker. Fans wanted to know the difference.

Pierce was drafted by the Celtics in 1998, helping them win a championship alongside Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in 2008. Some feel ESPN was more lenient with Sharpe because he claimed it was a mistake.

Pierce, meanwhile, had no defense because he was filming the video. It did not have any nudity.


'Obviously I am embarrassed," Sharpe said earlier this week on his podcast. "Someone that is extremely, extremely private and to have one of your most intimate details – the audio – heard for the entire world to hear, I'm embarrassed for a number of reasons,' Sharpe said.

The logical answer is ESPN had more to lose by parting ways with Sharpe. He is among the most popular personalities on the network. He appears on a variety of shows while offering insight on several sports and topics.

Pierce was likely on his way out at ESPN. He had nowhere near the popularity of Sharpe, but has since landed at Fox Sports 1.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day NBA. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com