By Matthew Cunha
Ray Allen averaged 15.6 points per game in the 2007-08 playoffs, en route to the Celtics 17th championship banner. Allen hit seven threes in the game 6 clinching victory for the Celtics. Allen hit a record breaking eight three pointers in a game 2 victory as well as an important piece of the success for the Celtics in the big 3 era between 2007 and 2012. In the 2012 off season he left for Lebron James’s Miami Heat and would go on to hit one of the biggest shots in NBA history while picking up his second ring. Ray Allen’s Celtic teammates took exception to the move and after Kevin Garnett’s Area 21 on TNT, the reasons for his absence are now clear.
“I was initially hurt by the whole way everything went down,” Pierce said. “I thought we formed a brotherhood here in Boston. Just how we carried ourselves, not only on the court, but off the court. And I just figured if it was me leaving or KG leaving, then I would have been like, ‘Rondo, Perk, Baby, this is what I’ve been thinking about.’ That’s what I was hurt by when Ray didn’t just at least give us a heads-up about it.”
Pierce made it clear that a heads up from Ray Ray was all he wanted. “Even though it was Miami — we hated them, we hated Miami and that was our rival, we were going at it with them, LeBron and all them,” Pierce added. “I just think if we had all just kinda talked about it, it would have been a little different than it is now. Now it’s uncomfortable. I haven’t talked to Ray in some years now. It’s just different.”
Allen, or so we thought, decided to make his stance known. A photo of Allen playing for Heat with his arm around Celtics Rajon Rondo was posted on his Facebook. The caption read “The power to push limits.” ESPN’s Rachel Nichols reported that Allen’s publicist said that his verified Facebook account was hacked and has been unverified. Regardless, it is clear that the rest of the Celtics 07-08 team and Allen do not get along.
Now that I have spent 363 words explaining the situation, I want to get into the real point of the blog, which is to explain how much I really don’t care about this whole thing. Despite the dilemma, the 2007-2012 Boston Celtics still happened. They still won their 17th banner, they still came one game away from their 18th banner two years later and still contributed many great memories to Boston sports fans. The dispute changes none of this for me.
With the current Celtics just two wins away from the Eastern Conference Finals, do we really need to spend time discussing beef between players who won a championship nine years ago. I would much rather discuss how the Celtics will get to the Eastern Conference Finals. Not some drama that happened 5 years ago. I want to live in the now, not in the past. How will the Celtics get banner 18? That is what I care about, especially with a date against LeBron James in the Eastern Conference Finals possibly just two games away. Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett faced him on the top stage, now it Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford, and Avery Bradley’s turn. That is the real story.
Matthew Cunha is a producer of The Drive, weekdays 4pm to 6pm on 92.9fm The Ticket and streaming live at DriveShowMaine.com. Follow us on Twitter, @DriveShowMaine and “Like Us” on Facebook, Drive Show Maine.
