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Ex-Celtics Player Reveals Paul Pierce And The Boston Celtics Viewed LeBron James As Soft

Since 2011, every playoff series of the Boston Celtics against a LeBron James-led team has ended in a demoralizing loss, making James the spoilsport to Boston’s quest in their chase for another championship banner.

But before James was perceived as arguably the most dangerous threat to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference, Celtics players considered him to be a soft player. That’s what former Celtic, Ryan Hollins revealed on the ‘Scoop B Radio Podcast’.

“That was our championship to walk away with [2012 playoffs], until then LeBron was seen as soft … We thought he wouldn’t show up in fourth quarters, we thought he wasn’t the real dude and when things got tight, he wouldn’t be able to go out and make plays. And if Paul Pierce could stay out of foul trouble, Paul was just as good at creating his own shot in clutch moments.”

In his earlier years, James couldn’t win against the Celtics that featured defensive beast Kevin Garnett and one of his biggest rivals Paul Pierce. In fact, before he joined the Miami Heat prior to the 2010-2011 NBA season, his last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 went down in a disappointing loss to the hands of Pierce and the Celtics.

James eventually went over the hump right after teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. They demolished the Celtics in two consecutive postseasons in 2011 and 2012. Fans realized that all James needed was a better supporting cast to match up with the star-studded Celtics.

The former Miami Heat superstar was a very different player from what Hollins and other Celtics players perceived him to be, as it was the year James produced one of the greatest games in NBA playoff history in Game 6 of the ECF where James dropped 45 points and 15 rebounds to avoid elimination.