It took a while, but Paul Pierce finally was able to respond to Draymond Green's viral trash talk from seven years ago.
In a game between the Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 23, 2017, at Oracle Arena, the TNT broadcast picked up audio of Green trash-talking the 39-year-old Pierce, who sat on the Clippers bench during Los Angeles free-throw attempts early in the first quarter.
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"Chasing that farewell tour, they don't love you like that!" Green yelled at Pierce from the court. "They ain't giving you no farewell tour, they don't love you like that ... you thought you was Kobe [Bryant]!"
One week after the incident, Pierce shared on an ABC broadcast of a Clippers game what he said from the sideline that set Green off in that moment.
"This is how it all started: Blake Griffin posted him up, got a foul, and I was just pretty much like, 'You can't guard Blake. He gonna give it to you all night. You not that good. You only good because you got Steph Curry, KD and Klay Thompson around. That's the only reason you get recognition,'" Pierce explained. "And so I'm trying to spark my team with the trash talk -- go at their emotional leader and give my guys some confidence. And that's when you hear him say what he said...
Fast forward seven years, and Pierce joined Green on the latest episode of "The Draymond Green Show," where the 46-year-old finally had an opportunity to confront Green about his viral trash talk.
Golden State Warriors
"I gotta address your viral s--t talking, first off," Pierce told Green. "Because you said your side of it and I hadn't had a chance to say my side of it yet. We go into the game and I'm just seeing how you're grabbing Blake [Griffin] and I'm like 'Damn, he be hella physical and he pushing on him,' and I'm like 'what the f--k going on, man? Hold on, Blake, bust his ass, man. Hell no you can't let him do that!' Because everybody knows you're the head of the snake and if you go at the head of the snake you got a shot.
"And I'm wolfin' at you like 'nah, f--k that, man. F--k him.' I'm shooting, I want everybody to know this is what we on this year. Damn, come on. This is the class of the league right here. You said what you said, right? And the camera is on me. And to be honest, I didn't hear what you said. People don't know this, but the microphone underneath the basket picks up everything. It made it look like you shot sometime to me, but honestly I didn't even hear what you said until after the game I'm looking at my Twitter like 'Oh damn, he went back at me.' Because I couldn't really see, I'm on the bench, you're on the other side."
Although he and Green feuded on the court over the years, Pierce respects the Warriors forward for always staying true to his fiery self.
"But I love the fact that you stayed true to who you are, because even before you won you was like that," Pierce told Green.
Green now is playing in his 12th NBA season and likely will join Pierce in the Hall of Fame one day. If the four-time All-Star ever has a farewell tour of his own, it's only fitting that Pierce makes an appearance in some capacity along the way.