Paul Pierce doesn’t mind debate: ‘It doesn’t bother me one bit’

Paul Pierce has been in the headlines quite a bit more than a long-retired player usually is during the final stretch of the NBA season.

The Boston Celtics legend caught some flak after claiming that he was a better player than Dwyane Wade during Wade's retirement tour. Pierce sparked an intense debate among sports fans on social media about who was the better player.

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Since the debate, Pierce has been ridiculed by fans of the Miami Heat and Wade. At Wade's final game in Miami, the crowd started a loud "Paul Pierce sucks" chant. Recently, Pierce spoke to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe about the attention he has received, and he mostly brushed it off and claimed that he's used to the negative attention.

“You know I don’t care about stuff,” Pierce said. “I don’t know how this happened. You know me, you know that stuff don’t bother me. As a player I was the same way, that’s what made me who I am. People can say what they want to say but I’ve always been a villain in this league. I’ve always been booed on the road.

“It’s nothing new. It doesn’t bother me one bit.”

This is probably the right attitude to have, especially considering that Pierce is now a prominent NBA analyst for ESPN. He's going to say what he thinks, as he always has, and he won't let the negative attention get to him.

Of course, it does help that Pierce's cause that he does have some positive remarks coming his way. Danny Ainge weighed in on the debate and backed up Pierce's assertation with the use of analytics. And there are plenty of Celtics fans who agree with him as well.