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Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce was a fairly good defender during his prime. However, even The Truth was “scared to death” when Allen Iverson was across from him.
During a recent appearance on ESPN's The Jump, Pierce spoke about the challenge of guarding Iverson when the Celtics and Sixers used to play each other back in the day, via Nick Goss of NBC Sports Boston:
“I didn't match up with him, but I knew I was in situations in pick-and-roll where I switched out on him,” Paul Pierce said. “I'm not gonna lie, I was scared to death. I could play defense and all, but I knew I couldn't slide my feet with Allen Iverson.
“Every night when you looked at the ‘SportsCenter' highlights, he was crossing somebody up,” Pierce continued. “All I know is when I switched on him, I was gonna give him that ole defense — I'm gonna let him do his move and I'm gonna let him go. Hopefully I can send him to the baseline because I was not trying to slide my feet with that guy. I didn't want to end up on anyone's ‘SportsCenter' highlights. Period.”
Iverson finished his legendary NBA career with averages of 26.7 points. He's one of the best players in league history and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.
Pierce will be joining Iverson in the Hall of Fame one day. The Celtics icon put up 19.7 points during his NBA career, which including one championship back in 2008. Pierce won Finals MVP after helping the Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers.
Pierce wasn't the only All-Star back in the day who was scared to guard Iverson. No one wanted to get embarrassed by The Answer.
