Who has had a better career, Pierce or Dirk?

[scaryjerry]

Don't even have to think about it really....Dirk.

[Monkhouse]

Dirk is far better, but that's because the league has never EVER respected Pierce as a superstar.

He has always been that one guy where most Celtics fan and me has been like, "dang! He's good."

Others: "Eh, he's a good scorer, but that's it."

[jayhovaone]

Lets not forget that if Dirk was there when we selected we were going to take him over pierce.  Pierce was the second option to Dirk.  I would say Dirk because he was just way more efficient throughout his career than Paul pierce.  Pierce became more efficient with the help of Doc Rivers. So i would say It is Dirk not by alot but Dirk is better.

[wdleehi]

If the Celtics had managed to win one more title, I would go with Pierce.



But Dirk wins based on awards because their stats and playoff successes are very similar.  (based on two players playing different positions)

[Kane3387]

Dirk beats pierce sadly.

The real question is dirk vs Garnett.

[Monkhouse]

Dirk beats pierce sadly.

The real question is dirk vs Garnett.

Garnett by far, not even a question...

Duncan/Barkley/Malone would be better than Garnett. But I would say Garnett is probably the best defensive PF the League has ever seen.

[scaryjerry]

Dirk beats pierce sadly.

The real question is dirk vs Garnett.

Garnett by far, not even a question...

Duncan/Barkley/Malone would be better than Garnett. But I would say Garnett is probably the best defensive PF the League has ever seen.

Eh...Dirk is closer then you give him credit for if not better....kg could do nothing with the teams Dirk has carried, he couldn't even make the playoffs in the west for 3 seasons before coming here, meanwhile Dirk was carrying pretty crappy teams year after year to the playoffs putting up better numbers.

[CapnDunks]

Yeah, Dirk.

He was unstoppable in the 2011 finals.

A lot of that team really stepped up during the run. Flawed as Terry is, he shot 44% from 3 those playoffs. I also feel like Jkidd took a huge step back after that year.

[mmmmm]

Meh.  Define what is a "better" career?

They are different players with different value.    Dirk is mostly a PF, occasionally a C or SF.   Pierce has been both SF & SG a lot, occasionally a PF.

I think these things come down to how much you value certain things.   They both played almost the same total minutes so far in their careers (right around 40K).

In raw stats, DIrk has wracked up just slightly more points and a lot more rebounds (9096 to 'just' 6651 for Pierce).

Pierce, on the other hand, has wracked up a lot more assists and thus has been responsible for more total point generation (about 33,621 compared to about 31,569 for Dirk).

Notably, Pierce' scoring rates were nearly identical to Dirk's through much of his career right up until Ray & KG arrived, when it dropped from around ~25ppg down to ~20 ppt, where it has stayed.

DIrk also finally won a title when he had more help and his own personal scoring dropped down a couple of points per game.  Dirk's rebounding that season also was down to 6.7, from a career avg of 8.2.   These are just indicators that it takes a solid team to win a title.

[pearljammer10]

I gotta go with Pierce.

For a while Pierce was the best scorer in the NBA, he could score on any opponent, at any time, in any way, with a variety of deadly moves. He was just completely underrated by the rest of the nation. It was an absolute luxury to watch him play every night. I use to make the argument that Pierce was at one time a top ten player in the NBA that just didnt get the credit he deserved, he was just more of an all around player excelling in almost every category of the game.

Dirk was always the player I said I wish I got to watch more however. His offense has to be respected as well.

[slamtheking]

1 title each.  1 finals MVP each.  1 finals loss each.

entire career with same team.

tiebreaker: PP is a lifetime Celtic.  PP wins

[acieEarl]

I'd probably have to say Dirk, but it's close. Both are hall of fame players.

I love taking a look at that 98 draft and seeing how Pierce fell to us. I remember Pierce was suppose to go 2nd in that draft and we were hoping Dirk was going to be around, never thinking Pierce would be on the board.

[TheBigTicket23]

Love both, both hall of famers.

Pierce is obviously one of my favourite all time players as he is a celtic, Dirk Nowitzki always has been one of my favourite NON celtic players. Seems like a really nice and humble guy as well, never in the news for bad reasons and sounds spontanious in interviews.

[JSD]

The body of evidence would suggest Dirk, but if that draft was redone they would undoubtably go 1 and 2.

[CelticG1]

At least this is a fairer comparison than those comparing Ginobli to Pierce