During an on-air rant from NBA analyst and former champion Paul Pierce, he criticized Dwyane Wade for the other stars he played alongside in his career. It got to a point where Pierce even boasted that he had a better career and would have won "four or five" championships if he played with Shaq and/or LeBron. That brought plenty of backlash towards Pierce on the internet from fans. It also prompted D-Wade's subtle replies to Pierce on Twitter where he retweeted other comments that disputed Pierce's claims. It's also brought Wade's wife into the discussion.

Gabrielle Union replies to Pierce's criticism

In a tweet on Saturday (April 6), Wade's wife Gabrielle Union called out Paul Pierce for the recent comments. It appears that Union was none too pleased with Pierce's attempt to bring down her husband's accomplishments. She brought up the idea that Pierce was trying to come up with an entertaining segment rather than celebrating someone else's career.

The Hollywood actress and entrepreneur went on to say what she finds the "most troublesome" is the "idea of a man trying to diminish another man that looks like him, was raised like him, in order to shine a tad brighter." Union went on to say "S—t isn't entertaining, it's sad." It's apparent that Wade's wife wasn't impressed with Pierce's attempts to bring a hot take to an NBA show.

Many fans also agree that Pierce's rant was straight up crazy talk.

D-Wade vs Pierce debates rage on

Many fans and analysts believe the numbers speak for themselves. For example, Dwyane Wade has two more NBA Championships than Paul Pierce does. The count is three to one. In terms of NBA All-Star appearances, Wade has 13 of those during his career.

Paul Pierce had 10. There are also two All-NBA First Team appearances for Wade and zero for Pierce. Players don't earn those First Team selections due to having Shaq or LeBron as teammates.

In terms of career statistics, Wade averaged 22 points, 5.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and a 48 percent field goal rate. Pierce averaged 19.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists with a 44.5 percent field goal rate.

Wade also averaged 0.2 more steals and 0.3 more blocks a game. That overall body of work seems to show Wade's career was on a high-level. That's not to say Paul Pierce's career wasn't.

Both players are obvious Naismith Hall of Famers, but Wade's numbers and accolades seem to speak for themselves. Pierce's rant has clearly agitated not only the fans but also Wade's wife to the point of needing to fire back at the absurdity. It makes Pierce seem as if he is trying to find ways to make his own career more relevant at the expense of a star enjoying the final season's spotlight on a great career.

As Dwyane Wade plays out his final games, he'll ultimately leave behind an impressive legacy. One has to wonder if he will move on to a platform where he can speak on basketball topics like Pierce does or use his voice for something else. Either way, it seems unlikely that Wade is going to concern himself with trying to sound better than Pierce.
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