Paul Pierce, since his retirement, has accustomed us to making outlandish statements, but in this case he was almost insulting to European players. He literally stereotyped, almost discriminated against, guys who come from the Old Continent.
Pierce boldly stated that “no one considers European players to be tough, especially French players.”.
“They are kind people, they love pastries, they are friendly.”, he added, highlighting a stereotype he believes is prevalent among NBA players.
The 46-year-old called Victor Wembanyama “not a tough guy,” claiming that “speaks a sexy language, not something we respect as a tough guy.”.
OH SH*T: Rudy Gobert taking shots from Paul Pierce and Skip Bayless on @undisputed today
“Nobody considers European players tough, especially from France… Rudy Gobert is the classic fake tough guy to me. No one is afraid of him.”
😬😬😬 pic.twitter.com/R8sC3NeMik
– ML Basketball (@_MLBasketball) April 2, 2024
Let’s say that as Europeans we don’t particularly appreciate these statements by Paul Pierce, not least because the NBA is now global and almost all the latest MVPs, as well as the next one, were born in Europe.
Clearly the former Boston Celtics phenom deliberately exaggerated these statements. But they still remain words that are not particularly pleasant to hear and read.
Let’s see if in the future he will retract, even minimally, what he said and especially if any European NBA player, perhaps Luka Doncic, will respond to him in kind.
Read also: BU exclusive, Dane DiLiegro: “I’m making a Netflix series about basketball! Ramagli would make a great director.”
