J.R. Smith Calls Paul Pierce ‘Bitter Person Just Getting Out of Boston,’ Says Words About Nets ‘Have Consequences’

Paul Pierce has gone from an NBA star sad about leaving his longtime team, the Boston Celtics, to one upbeat about the chances of his new team, the Brooklyn Nets.

But J.R. Smith isn’t having none of that.

The Knicks shooting guard wasn’t pleased with Pierce’s recent assessment that the Nets were going “to start running this city,” and he unleashed some Smith-style comments this week to ESPN.com to let that be known.

“I just look at him as a bitter person just getting out of Boston,” he said. “He doesn’t really know what New York is all about. He’s been playing in Boston his whole career. … He just knows, just know that his words have consequences, and he’s going to have to pay for them.”

Knicks point guard Raymond Felton has also criticized Pierce’s comments, saying Pierce was just trying to talk and fuel the rivalry but that Brooklyn had no chance of taking over New York.