Celtics legend Paul Pearce’s comments sparked controversy, with Pierce bluntly declaring,
“As of right now, Tatum has overtaken James and Durant to become the best player in the United States, with the exception of Curry.”
Pierce: Tatum overtook Jandoo to join Curry as the No. 1 player best US players.
Speaking about who is the best American player in the league at the moment, Pierce said: Right now, the best American player in the league is Jayson Tatum, you can see how he’s grown over the last few years, 55 points in the All-Star Game, 50 points in the playoffs against Philadelphia, I just looked around, I think he surpassed Kevin Durant, I think he surpassed LeBron (James).
Pierce also said: Jokic is the best player in the NBA right now, but Tatum is actually the best American player in the league, aside from Curry.
Pierce’s comments sparked controversy. Some fans said Tatum was superior to Durant and James, OK he’s a former Celtics player, move on.
Some fans said, I don’t think he’s playing at Curry’s level, and some said, “No.” “Don, I’m not talking about that, he hasn’t surpassed LeBron and KD.”
76ers fans said the 35-year-old Durant is better than Tatum, Embiid is currently the best player in the USA, and James fans are also dissatisfied and published the data for the two players this season: James had an average of 26.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game on a shooting percentage of 67.1%, and Tatum is 8th with an average of 26.9 points.7 rebounds and 4 assists per game with a shooting rate of 62%.
Recently, Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce said that current Celtics star Jayson Tatum is the best American player in the NBA championship, surpassing LeBron James, and that Kevin Duran Special is the only contender that has the attention of the entire NBA.
“Right now, Jayson Tatum is the best American in the league… I look around and I think he’s surpassed Kevin Durant, I think he’s surpassed LeBron (James)”
Of course, Warriors fans might have a problem with Pierce not having Jayson Tatum, who was immediately ahead of Stephen Curry in the rankings, as we saw the two face off in the 2022 NBA Finals and Curry clearly outranked the Warriors star Celtics defeated.
However, it’s no surprise that Pierce, who spent most of his career with the Celtics, sides with Tatum on this issue.