Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce is not happy with the current generation of NBA players who are losing the “hunger” to perform well after getting big contracts.

As most fans know, it has been a common theme in the NBA to see players be extra motivated in their contract year. In search for a bigger payday, these players often increase their production to levels unheard of. But after landing that massive deal they have been searching for, their numbers decrease, thereby frustrating the teams they got the contract from and the fan base.

While it's no longer surprising to see that kind of development at this point, Pierce highlighted that it just looks so wrong. With that, he couldn't help but be disappointed on these types of NBA players.

“[Kevin Garnett] said ‘If you ever want to see how real a motherf**ker is, give him a boatload of money'… I didn't get it at first… A lot of guys that sign these big deals, the hunger ain't there no more,” the Celtics icon shared on Garnett's KG Certified podcast.

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While many seem to disagree with Paul Pierce's takes–with the comments on his video mostly calling cap–there's actually some merit to his take. As ClutchPoints has listed before, there are a lot of NBA players who struggled and just fell off after signing big contracts. While the reasons vary, with many sustaining injuries that limited them, it doesn't really make things less frustrating.

In the 2023 offseason, plenty of players signed big-money deals, two of which are Jaylen Brown who got the biggest contract ever in total value ($304 million), and Anthony Davis who received the highest annual salary ($62 million). Hopefully, they don't fall to the same trap that Pierce mentioned.