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While there are a lot of people out there who believe that the Los Angeles Lakers should be considered as one of the title favorites this season, there are still those who are not too confident about LA's title hopes. One of them is Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce, who himself recently threw a bit of shade at LeBron James and his Lakers.
Pierce made an appearance on a podcast with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes and one of the most interesting topics of discussion centered around the new-look Lakers squad. Pierce brought back a bit of Lakers history onto the forefront as he explained why he isn't too impressed with this current Lakers team:
“This team is really giving me that Karl Malone, Gary Payton when they were with Kobe [Bryant], that kind of feel,” Pierce said (h/t Peter Dewey of Lakers Nation).
For those that require context, Hall of Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton joined the Purple & Gold in 2003 to form an ultimate superteam with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. Both Malone and Payton were already in the tail end of their respective legendary careers and unfortunately for them, the Lakers fell short of winning the title that year.
For his part, Pierce seems to think that it's the same old story for the Lakers this season. Much has been made about LA's aging superstars and to be fair, the comparison is somewhat warranted. Nevertheless, LeBron probably won't be too happy with the assessment of his old nemesis here.
