Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics enjoys seeing Jayson Tatum dominate.

Pierce, the Celtics’ 2008 NBA Finals MVP, praised Tatum in a post Monday night, saying, “Tatum is the best American Basketball Player in the World.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Nikola Jokic (Serbia), and Joel Embiid (Cameroon) were all born outside of their respective countries.

Pierce’s tweet came during the Celtics’ (9-2) win over the New York Knicks on Monday night, in which Tatum scored 35 points while also dishing out seven assists and grabbing six rebounds.

One might make a compelling case that Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, a four-time champion and two-time MVP, is the superior player. Curry is averaging a career-high 30.7 points on 44.6 percent three-point shooting, and he recently became the NBA’s oldest player to average 30 points through the first ten games of a season.

Tatum, 25, is a four-time All-Star after being selected third overall by the Celtics in the 2017 NBA Draft out of Duke. He led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in 2022. He’s averaging 28.4 points on 52.6 percent shooting from the field through 11 games this season.