Paul Pierce says there's NO WAY LeBron James deserves to be considered one of the 5 best players in NBA history ... and he's got a pretty ironic reason for the snub.
The Boston Celtics legend dropped the scorching hot take on ESPN Monday, saying the King never established a winning culture on his own ... and therefore, shouldn't be mentioned among the best in the game.
"I go back and I ask myself, 'What has LeBron did to build up any organization from the ground-up?'"
"Look at the names I said -- Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), Magic (Johnson), (Michael) Jordan, Tim Duncan, Kobe (Bryant), (Larry) Bird .