Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green isn't letting Paul Pierce's comment on Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James slip away.

If one is a retired NBA player, chances are he believes the players of his era are tougher than the players today. For Paul Pierce, that's a certainty.

The former Boston Celtics star and ESPN analyst likes nothing more than to remind everybody he won a ring—alongside two other Hall of Famers—and that he sometimes beat LeBron James at basketball.

Pierce was undeniably outstanding in the Celtics' 2008 title run, where he and Boston outplayed James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2008 and 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals.

Since then, of course, James has won three NBA titles and solidified his place as one of the sport's all-time greats. Now, in his 17th season, the MVP runner-up has the Lakers on the verge of a Finals appearance, which would mark the 10th of his career (eight more than Pierce).

In Pierce's mind, though, James' accomplishments—especially in the latter stages of his career—have just as much to do with the mindset of current players as with James' other-worldly work ethic and ability.

“Players of today are scared of LeBron…My era's out of the league, we weren't afraid of LeBron,” Pierce said about the guy who apparently isn't even top-5 all-time.

https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1309645276647485440

Unsurprisingly, Draymond Green disagrees. The Warriors forward has battled James in four Finals, winning three and punching him in the nuts once, and he believes Pierce may be airing his own insecurities via an unprovable claim.

“Enjoy retirement man…you still fear Bron…shut up already! We get it!!!” Green wrote in an Instagram story post responding to Pierce's quote.

James failed to make the playoffs in 2019, hasn't won a title since 2016, and hasn't won an MVP since 2013 — evidently because all of his contemporaries are too afraid of him.