Paul Pierce refuses to call Miami Heat a contender

Paul Pierce’s rivalry with the Miami Heat is continuing even in retirement.

Pierce has served as an NBA analyst since retiring after the 2016-2017 season. He spent the first 15 seasons of his professional career with the Boston Celtics, who had an intense rivalry with the Heat. The Hall of Fame player dislikes the Heat so much that he is refusing to consider them a championship contender.

Pierce said on a Showtime Basketball live show in Las Vegas Thursday that acquiring Damian Lillard would hurt the Heat. He reiterated his stance on Friday’s show.

“To acquire a player like that, you [sic] gonna lose so much of the other pieces you had that helped you get to where you needed to go,” Pierce argued, before adding, "Yeah, they made the Finals, but people seem to forget that team was a play-in team. So that don’t [sic] make you a contender when you get to the Finals.”