Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce is never one to shy away from the truth, and his brutal honesty recently attracted the ire of former NBA player and ESPN personality Richard Jefferson.

On an episode of “KG Certified: Ticket & The Truth,” which is co-hosted by Pierce's Hall of Fame teammate Kevin Garnett, the topic of Jefferson's defense came up. Pierce whispered that when he played against Jefferson back in the day it was “an easy 40 [points] every time.”

Garnett proceeds to burst out laughing and call Jefferson “sweet,” emphasizing that his defensive skills were no match for “The Truth's” offense.

In response, Jefferson said that things went down a little differently than Pierce might remember:

Over the course of Jefferson's minute-long clap back, the 2016 NBA champion brings up the fact that the Nets knocked Pierce's Celtics out of the playoffs twice back in the early 2000s.

Additionally, in perhaps Jefferson's most cutting remark, he admits that Pierce was a better player than him and follows it up with a cheeky backhanded compliment:

“First let me say this: Paul Pierce is one of the best players of the generation. Hundred percent better than me,” Jefferson said. “Comparing me to him is like comparing him to Dwayne Wade. It's different stratospheres.”

While at first glance this might seem like a kind thing to say, Jefferson is poking fun at the time Pierce said he had a better career than three-time NBA champion Dwayne Wade. Pierce boldly stated that all the way back in 2019, yet he still faces backlash for it to this day.

Pierce wasn't about to take that diss lying down though, as he responded to Jefferson on Twitter clarifying his initial comments:

Although Pierce rarely beat the Nets early on in his lengthy career, he's not necessarily wrong about having good numbers versus Jefferson. Per Statmuse, Pierce averaged about 20 points and six rebounds per game over the 36 matchups he had against Jefferson.

The Hall of Famer then continued to defend himself on Twitter by going at his former Boston teammates:

There were even more Tweets between the two, but in the end, the beef seemed to settle when Jefferson gave some props to Pierce for his past playoff heroics:

The war of words between Pierce and Jefferson is now over, but knowing how much the two hoopers like to talk, it wouldn't be surprising if more Twitter tirades broke out between them in the future.