Kendrick Perkins lashed out at his former teammate, Paul Pierce, after the latter declared that LeBron James isn't even on the top five players of all time. Pierce also said that Kobe Bryant is a better player than King James.

Perkins and Pierce are both part of the Boston Celtics 2008 championship squad that included two other superstars, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. The team also included older icons such as Eddie House, Sam Cassell, and James Posey. The team also had the young Rajon Rondo in their roster.

Perkins reminded Pierce about how much harder it was to defend LeBron James than Kobe Bryant. The ex-Celtics enforcer recalled how many hours their talented team spent practising, strategising, and drilling to beat that "freight train."

Perkins certainly has a point. It took the Celtics 7 games to beat the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals but only needed six games to beat the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

A lot of players are pitching their two-cents lately, after the conclusion of the documentary "The Last Dance." It featured Michael Jordan's career with the Chicago Bulls, while focusing on their 6th championship in the 1997-1998 season.

According to ClutchPoints, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are the two challengers to take over Michael Jordan's position as the best basketball player who has ever played the game.

It is not the first time Kendrick Perkins defended LeBron James in his self-proclaimed best player of all-time title. Last week, ESPN ranked the best players of all time with Jordan as 1st and James as the second. Perkins said that by the time James retires, He would be the NBA's 1st or 2nd best scorer of all time and in the top five in both assists and rebounds.

A month ago in another interview, Perkins pointed out that Jordan was praised for scoring 63 points and then 49 in the 1986 playoff series against the Boston Celtics, even when the Bulls were swept in the series. He pointed out that Jordan always had a reliable superstar such as Scottie Pippen by his side.

He forgot to mention that Pippen signed on to play for the Bulls in 1987 (a year later), and the 1986 Boston Celtics team was composed of four future Hall of Famers. He also forgot to mention that LeBron James didn't go to college and went straight to the NBA from High School, starting his NBA career at a much younger age than Jordan. The debate goes on and it will continue to intensify as LeBron continues to break records.

LeBron James
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James gestures while playing against the Brooklyn Nets on October 10, 2019 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China Photo: AFP / HECTOR RETAMAL Hector Retamal/AFP