The Moment of Truth: How Good is Paul Pierce?

Six years ago Paul Pierce spearheaded the biggest comeback in playoff history during the Eastern Conference Finals against New Jersey, highlighting a season where he closed the distance between himself and Kobe Bryant. Since then, the distance between the two has grown into an enormous chasm.

Kobe is now compared to MJ, while Paul Pierce is compared to, well, no one, really. Pierce was third team All-NBA in 2008, and most observers believe it was his best all-round year. Nonetheless, there was a lingering feeling that the All-NBA honor was a courtesy vote in recognition of the Celtics great regular season.

Back in the day there was talk of a Kobe-Pierce rivalry. Nobody talks about this any more, again, mostly because nobody really sees the two in the same class. The Celtics have stunk and been out of the spotlight, while the Lakers have won three titles, and, even when they were little more than a .500 team, remained a fixture in the national media.

Still, my gut tells me that for Pierce, the rivalry is not dead, especially now that both he and Kobe play for elite teams.

Pierce undoubtedly thrives in going head-to-head with the league's best. LeBron outscored Pierce 45-41 in game seven of the Eastern Conference semis, but the Celtics won the game, which means Pierce won the battle.

Pierce had one of his best games this year at Staples, the famed double-barreled smoking gun game, and he again did a number on the purple in game 1 of the Finals. Over his career, Pierce averages more points against the Lakers than he does any other team except for one.

After banging up his knee in game 1, Paul Pierce has refused to undergo an MRI, or if he did take one, he doesn't want to know the results. Paul Pierce is going to play the rest of this series come hell or high water, in part because this is the NBA Finals, and it might be his only chance to win a championship.

But it says here there is one other reason Paul Pierce will keep playing until they have to drag him off the court:

This is his best chance to showcase his formidable game and his formidable array of skills. He wants a place at the table in the discussion of all-time greats, and with a memorable Finals performance, he just might ignite the first spark in that discussion.

For me, the bottom line is that 98% of the so-called experts had the Lakers HEAVILY favored coming into this series. This tells me that the so-called experts not only believe Kobe is the best player on either team, but also that the Lakers have a better supporting cast. So if Pierce leads an inferior team to victory over Kobe and the mighty Lakers, the same experts hailing Kobe as the next MJ might want to stop and consider where Paul Pierce fits into the debate.