"Pau Should've Been The MVP": Paul Pierce Drops Bombshell Claim Regarding The 2010 Lakers-Celtics Series
Jan 6, 2026
In his playing career, Paul Pierce had the privilege of participating in a noteworthy chapter of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry. Along with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, Pierce led the Celtics to a dramatic championship victory in 2008 over their West Coast adversaries.
In 2010, the Celtics and the Lakers would meet once again in the NBA Finals. This time, Kobe Bryant and company would not be denied as the Lakers won in seven. All these years later, Pierce made a bold claim about that particular series.
“I actually thought Pau [Gasol] should’ve been the MVP,” Pierce said on an episode of Byron Scott’s “Fast Break” podcast.
To many Lakers fans, this statement is outright slander, as the late Kobe Bryant (the actual recipient of the 2010 Finals MVP award) is revered in Los Angeles as a folk hero. Pierce, however, went on to explain the reasoning behind his claim. “He was killing,” the Celtics icon said of Gasol. “He had, like, 20-something points and 20 rebounds. He showed us toughness.”
In the 2010 NBA Finals, Gasol averaged 18.6 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists. Based on the numbers that Pierce brought up, it’s likely that Pierce was thinking of Game 7, when Gasol had 19 points and 18 boards to seal the deal for the Lakers.
While the big man from Spain deserves plenty of credit for the Lakers’ conquest that year, Pierce did not neglect to acknowledge the teammate who heavily influenced Gasol. “24 put that battery on his back,” Pierce said, referencing Bryant’s jersey number in 2010. “Now, when he’s dunking, he’s yelling. This ain’t you.”
Pierce added that Bryant’s fiery mentorship was the difference-maker for Gasol’s growth as a player. “Pau was an All-Star. He had one of the best skill sets as a postman in the league. He was just missing that toughness.”
Neither Pierce nor Bryant (or, for that matter, Gasol) would ever return to the Finals after that epic series. In many ways, the Lakers-Celtics showdown in June 2010 was the end of an era. Bryant will go down in history books as Finals MVP, and there is hardly any debate that he was deserving of that accolade. But, as far as one of his on-court adversaries is concerned, his Spanish buddy was even more deserving.
