Paul Pierce claims the Lakers hung up the ‘in-season championship banner’ just to ‘spite’ the Celtics

Paul Pierce cannot believe the Los Angeles Lakers hung their In-Season Tournament banner.

Paul Pierce claims the Lakers hung up the ‘in-season championship banner’ just to ‘spite’ the Celtics

Paul Pierce feels the Lakers hung their In-Season Tournament banner to spite the Celtics (Image via Open Source,X)

Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce was speaking with his former teammate Kevin Garnett on Showtime Basketball’s YouTube channel All The Smoke. Among all the topics they talked about, the In-Season Tournament banner discussion turned out to be especially humorous.

During the discussion, it was apparent that Paul Pierce was unaware that the Los Angeles Lakers did hang a banner to commemorate their In-Season Tournament victory. He said to Garnett;

They put a banner up!!? They did that to spite the Celtics

Garnett confirms to Pierce that the banner in question was different to the ones the Lakers hoist for their championship wins. It has no relation or adds nothing to the no. of NBA championships they have won. Once his friend and colleague saw the picture, Pierce claimed that the franchise should have hoisted the banner on one side, instead of hanging it between the Lakers’ championship banners.

FS Video

Pierce went on to give some hilarious suggestions that they could have used in place of the cloth banner, such as a Plaque or a video banner. Garnett however, picked up the sarcasm and tried to convince Pierce that the In-Season Tournament was a significant achievement in itself, particularly due to it being the first iteration of the competition. Pierce seems to be not convinced about hanging a banner for a small Tournament. He mentions that it undermines the effort players put together in the whole season for the ultimate prize.

They further discuss the significance of the NBA Championship, citing that nothing can come close to its stature. The In-Season Tournament is a separate competition, and its significance should be separate as well. Regardless, while the Celtics and Lakers each have 17 NBA championships, Lakers have won the 1st iteration of the In-Season tournament.

Pierce and Garnett vs the Lakers

Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have a history with the Los Angeles Lakers. During their time together on the Celtics, the two most storied franchises in the history of basketball met twice in the NBA Finals. In the 2008 NBA Finals, the two teams squared off for the first time in a finals game in more than 30 years. Garnett and Pierce alongside Ray Allen took the title. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol took it back in 2010 in their second meeting.

Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett prefer the Larry O'Brian banner competition between the Lakers and the Celtics
Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett prefer the Larry O’Brian banner competition between the Lakers and the Celtics (Image via Open Source, X)

The last time the two teams met in the Finals was in 1987. This was the era of the Showtime Lakers led by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Celtics had Larry Bird and Kevin McHale. This was the time when the NBA viewership worldwide grew significantly on the back of this rivalry.

For Pierce to not consider the In-Season Tournament significant enough to hang a banner is plausible. After all, he is a champion and knows the significance of it.

In case you missed: