Paul Pierce says he can average 50 in today’s NBA

Paul Pierce was extremely vocal on the jump with Rachel Nichols. Paul disagreed with the Flagrant foul, that was called on Marcus Smart and went on a rant about how that wasn’t an intentional foul and that the calls generally go towards the offense these days. After he finished his rant about that he threw in at the end, “Man, I would average 50 Today.” 

If we take a trip back in time to Paul Pierce’s best season statistically which was, 2005-2006 where he averaged 26.8 points per game on 47% clip. That’s a far stretch from 50 PPG, also to note his team missed out on the playoffs that season finishing well under .500 at 33-49. The NBA leader in points that season was the legend himself, Kobe Bryant who averaged 35.4 points per game, although his team missed out on the playoffs, they still finished over .500 at 45-37, in a heated western conference which featured 9 teams that finished above .500. Paul Pierce was a solid player in his day, but the stats show that he wasn’t even the most elite scorer in his prime. 

James Harden led the NBA in points per game this season, averaging 34.3 points per game. Paul may be correct that the NBA today is more favored towards offensive players, but that shouldn’t affect his ability to lead the NBA in points while he was playing. If he couldn’t average 30, while other players were doing it while he was playing; what makes him think that today he would average 50 today?