Celtics Legend Paul Pierce Believes 08 Team Would 'Break' Current Boston Squad

Ricardo Klein | Dec 3, 2024

Jun 8, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Former Boston Celtics player Paul Pierce watches game three of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics have shown over the last year and continue to show this year that they are the team to beat for the Larry O'Brien trophy. The Celtics are the best team in the NBA and are expected to continue their winning ways moving forward.

The Celtics are making it look easy at the moment, just like the 2007-08 team made it look easy during their championship season. That team was led by All-NBA forward and future Hall of Famer Paul Pierce.

Pierce knows what it's like to hoist a trophy in Boston, and while he is happy for this current team, he isn't going to anoint this version of the Celtics team, the top team in their illustrious history.

In a recent appearance on  the “Dan Le Batard Show," Pierce vouched for his 2008 championship team as the team for Boston, saying that “this [Boston] team is better than yours.” 

“I don’t know. We don’t know,” Pierce responded. “It’s damn close. I ain’t gonna lie. This team is really good. Really good. But I will tell you this. I don’t know — we knew how to break teams mentally. So what we lacked in skill versus them — we had with will.”

"This team is really good, but I will tell you this, our team we knew how to break teams mentally." @paulpierce34 on how his Boston Celtics teams would fare against today's Boston Celtics.

WATCH: https://t.co/0mH91SieKi pic.twitter.com/lNbiYVBqqO

— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) December 2, 2024

Although that 2008 team was mixed with talent and players playing their roles, this current version of the Celtics is special as well.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla has been responsible for turning this team into, possibly, an all-time great one. Last year's champions set league records with 1.22 points per possession and a 122.2 offensive rating. During regular-season play, Boston outscored teams by an average of 11.34 points per game — the fifth-highest total in NBA history.

The 2024 Celtics went on to record a 64-18 record, ranking third in the league in defensive rating, and posted a stellar 16-3 record in the playoffs.

However, Pierce's Celtics were no joke either. The 2008 team had a tougher road in the playoffs, but they collected 66 wins in the regular season, led by Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen.

The 2008 team was ranked first in the NBA with a 98.9 defensive rating. The game was different then, but first in the NBA is first.

Pierce continued to make his case for his team.

“We gonna turn it into a bar fight,” Pierce said of the 2008 Celtics’ approach. “You know what I’m saying? This ain’t gonna be no finesse, dancing around the ring. This is gonna be body blow, body blow.” 

It's unclear who is better than who, but this version of the Celtics team has a legitimate chance to do something that the 2008 team never did: win multiple titles.

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