LeBron James is taking the stance that it is him against the world. The Miami Heat star is noting that he no longer has an individual rival. He is merely focused on facing the league as a whole. In years past, James has said his No. 1 rival was Paul Pierce. The two have offered up some very memorable matchups in the past, but now that Pierce is no longer on the Celtics, James has moved on.
Pierce and James often go toe-to-toe during games as the Celtics and Heat have faced off numerous times in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The landscape has changed since Pierce has gotten older and is now a member of the Brooklyn Nets.
"Paul was one of those rival guys, but I've been going against different guys the last few years. It's not just one guy," James said, via the Miami Herald. "I haven't played against one individual for a long period of time - since basically it was me and Paul. Me and Paul, we had so many duels and almost every year we were going against Boston whether I was in Cleveland the last few years or Miami ... So, I don't know if there is one particular guy. There are some teams I believe are very competitive in both conferences, but it's not just one guy."
James has commented on the Pierce rivalry in the past. After the Heat won their second-consecutive NBA title, James said that if he did have a rival in the league, it would be Pierce. The argument can be made for Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant or ever Carmelo Anthony, but James has always focused on Pierce. It appears the animosity has died down a bit since Pierce and Garnett were traded to the Nets. However, James still has shots to fire, criticizing the two former Celtics stars for the way they treated Ray Allen for leaving before leaving themselves.
"I think the first thing I thought was, 'Wow, Ray got killed for leaving Boston, and now these guys are leaving Boston,'" James said. "I think it's OK; I didn't mind it. But there were a couple guys who basically [expletive] on Ray for leaving, and now they're leaving."
That certainly set some sparks to the rivalry as Garnett told reporter that James needed to mind his own business. Pierce remained rather coy on the comments. Former Boston coach Doc Rivers defended his players saying the situations were very different.
"Paul and Kevin were traded," Rivers said on ESPN Radio in Miami. "They were traded. Paul was traded whether he wanted to be or not. Kevin was the only one who had to agree to be traded even though he had already been traded. He had to agree to the trade. That's completely different."
All of this is simply hearsay. The season starts in a week and all of this back and forth talking will not matter anymore once the Heat and Brooklyn face off for the first time.
