For all the noise surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers this season, one of the loudest debates now involves a player who doesn’t even wear purple and gold.
Former Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce stirred things up this week when he argued that Jaylen Brown deserved Luka Doncic’s spot on the All-NBA First Team, claiming Brown “did the most with the least” while Doncic benefited from playing alongside LeBron James and Austin Reaves.
“I know that’s saying a lot because Luka did lead the league in scoring, but he had more to work with, too. Think about it. He had LeBron all year. You got Reaves, you know, a lot of most of the year,” said Pierce, on the “No Fouls Given” show on X.
“I thought [Brown] was in the MVP conversation,” Pierce said. “When you’re in the MVP conversation, you should be 1st Team… I would’ve probably removed Luka (Doncic) for Jaylen.”
That take immediately raised eyebrows in Los Angeles.
Doncic didn’t just make First Team All-NBA because of reputation. He earned it by leading the NBA in scoring at 33.5 points per game while also averaging 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds.
Even with injuries constantly disrupting the Lakers’ lineup, Doncic remained the engine behind a team that secured the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference.
Pierce’s argument also ignored an important reality: Doncic, LeBron and Reaves were rarely healthy together. The trio appeared in just 29 games together all season, hardly the superteam setup Pierce described.
That doesn’t diminish Brown’s season.
The Celtics forward was phenomenal while carrying Boston after Jayson Tatum’s Achilles tear cost him most of the season. Brown averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists while helping keep the Celtics near the top of the Eastern Conference despite major roster turnover.
But replacing Doncic specifically feels more rooted in Pierce’s devotion to the Celtics and their longstanding rivalry with the Lakers than actual production.
The Lakers star became the focal point of everything defenses tried to stop nightly, yet still delivered one of the league’s most complete offensive seasons.
Doncic missed the Lakers’ final five regular season games and the entire postseason with a significant hamstring strain.
Without him, the Lakers squeezed past the Rockets in six games in the first round before being swept by the top-seeded Thunder in the conference semifinals.
Pierce may still bleed Celtics green, but this debate probably says more about the rivalry than the ballots themselves.