Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were once great teammates, winning a championship together with the Boston Celtics in 2008. However, that bond between teammates turned into a beef just a few seasons later, when Ray Allen left the Boston Celtics in free agency to join the Miami Heat. At the time, Miami Had just eliminated them in a tough series, and on top of that Ray Allen also took less money to go to the Heat. A lot of people were not happy with his decision, including Kevin Garnett.
It looks as though Kevin Garnett still has some resentment towards Ray Allen. Kevin Garnett cropped Ray Allen from the photo in a recent post on his Instagram story commemorating the Boston Celtics 2008 championship core, leaving only himself, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo.
Kevin Garnett made sure to crop Ray Allen out of this repost
(h/t @BostonCelts4eva ) pic.twitter.com/jGgUGa8uyw
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 22, 2021
It is easy to see why Kevin Garnett would feel slighted by Ray Allen’s decision at the time. To have one of your best teammates leave isn’t easy, and leaving to join your rivals for less money could be seen as a sign of giving up on the roster. However, an article by Haley O’Shaughnessy of The Ringer suggested that Ray Allen left due to feeling disrespected.
In his own words, Allen felt disrespected. “So let me see if I got this straight,” Allen wrote in his 2018 memoir, From the Outside: My Journey Through Life and the Game I Love. “You want to pay me less money. You want to bring me off the bench. You want to continue to run the offense around Rondo. Now tell me again exactly why I would want to sign this contract?”
Regardless of the reason, Ray Allen leaving the Boston Celtics is in the past. He made his decision, and to be fair to him, he did help the team bring a championship back to Boston during his time there. This beef may not be quite over yet, at least on Kevin Garnett’s end. Hopefully though, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett can resolve their differences in the future.
