The worst takes from Paul Pierce and the 2008 Celtics, ranked

Great team, not great at predictions and takes.

The 2007-08 Boston Celtics were NBA champions, a terrific team that put it all together for one year with some Hall of Fame names (Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and yes, Paul Pierce) and a great supporting cast (Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, James Posey).

But when it comes to takes? The group as a whole has had some big misses and whiffed on predictions.

We’re bringing this up because Pierce informed the world that he doesn’t think LeBron James is a top-five NBA player of all time, and he’s sticking to it. If you were on Twitter Wednesday afternoon, you know there was quite a bit of disagreement with that take.

So let’s look at some other times this group whiffed and rank them.

9. Perkins: Russell Westbrook is the best Thunder player ever

Obviously, this got him into hot water with Kevin Durant, who is the correct answer even though Westbrook has had a pretty incredible career.

8. Pierce: Duke could beat the 2018-19 Cavs

Not the hottest of takes on this list, but a reminder: NBA teams > college teams. Also, the Blue Devils lost in the East Regional to Michigan State.

7. Perkins: Pierce is a top-five small forward

Top 10? Probably. But where’s Elgin Baylor? How about Dr. J? Does James Worthy count?

6. Garnett: Thon Maker is a future MVP

I completely forgot about this! He said it in 2017 … and yeah, that hasn’t aged well, although Maker is only 23, so maybe there’s still a lot of time for him to put it all together? I’m going to go ahead and say: nah.

5. Pierce: The Rockets will beat the Warriors in a “blowout” in 2019 West Semis Game 6

Narrator voice: they did not.

4. Pierce: “Bucks got this”

Let’s be fair with Pierce: he picked the Raptors to win it all in 2019 (got it!) and picked the Blazers to beat the Nuggets in a Game 7 (nailed that one too).

But after the Bucks beat the Raps in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals last year, he tweeted this:

Oops.

3. Pierce: “I think it’s over” for the Bucks

This didn’t age well after the Celtics won Game 1 of the Eastern Semis in 2019. The Bucks won the next four contests.

2. Pierce thinks he had a better career than Dwyane Wade

Nope. This is very very wrong. Pierce’s career was pretty awesome, but not Dwyane Wade awesome.

1. Pierce: James isn’t a top-five NBA player ever

He’s probably the second-greatest or greatest, depending on who you talk to.

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