Paul Pierce and LeBron James have developed a heated rivalry over the years going back to Pierce’s time with the Boston Celtics and James’s first stint in Cleveland.
Relax, the Wizards were joking when they said Paul Pierce banned them from wearing LeBrons
They’ve never ACTUALLY had a ban on James’ shoes.
Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat provided a good anecdote about that rivalry at Wizards Media Day on Monday, telling the Washington Post’s Jorge Castillo that Pierce issued a mandate that banned teammates from wearing LeBron’s shoes.
“Well, what I learned from him, you’re not allowed to wear LeBron James’s shoes to practice,” Gortat said.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard something like this come out of Wizards camp. Back in 2009, Mike Miller was scolded for arriving to his first Wizards camp wearing LeBron’s signature Nike shoe right after switching over from Adidas, according to SB Nation’s Mike Prada. This, of course, dated back to the team’s rivalry from 2006-08.
“Me, Twan, and Caron told him about them LeBron shoes,” DeShawn Stevenson said. “We’re off that. So he’ll get it switched. I told him we already got war against them, and we play them, what, the third, fourth game? See he can’t do that. It’s beef right there.”
But while this all makes for a good story, it turns out that everyone was just joking. A Wizards communications rep told SB Nation that not only did Miller continue wearing LeBron’s shoes that season, but DeJuan Blair actually wore them this year. So, Pierce’s ban didn’t really apply and wasn’t much of a mandate at all.
Evidence of the former comes from Kyle Weidie at TruthAboutIt.net. Here’s a picture of Miller from later in the season:
Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
These appear to be this same shoe that Weidie mentioned, though with a different colorway:
via sneakernews.com
Shaun Livingston and Cedric Jackson also wore LeBron’s with the Wizards that year.
Blair, meanwhile, reps Nike and has often worn LeBrons during his career. We’re told that he didn’t stop just because Paul Pierce said so.
A shame, too. It would have been fun to imagine the Wizards actually refusing to wear James’ sneakers all season. The truth is a little less fun.
