It was all smiles in Boston on Sunday, when Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett embraced to bury the hatchet once and for all.
After years of bickering and tension, the relationship between Allen and his former teammates has finally been restored. But how did it even start to begin with? What really went wrong in that locker room?
Speaking on “The Lowe Post,” former Celtics big man Kendrick Perkins provided some intel on the situation, explaining to Lowe how it all began.
“We had so much tension and we had so many arguments in that locker room. I don’t think that had anything to do with the beef that guys had toward Ray. Remember, I don’t know what went on and why Ray left because I was already gone. I never even asked until about last year when I was with KG and he told me, it wasn’t that Ray left. It’s how he left. He didn’t really give them a heads-up, he didn’t take them out to dinner, you know, saying, “Hey man it’s been fun but Imma go here.” I think it’s how he left that caused KG and everyone else to be in their feelings, and understandably.”
Allen shocked everybody, including his teammates, when he traded Boston for Miami in 2012. After winning a title with the Celtics, he left and joined their rival without any warning or notification.
Back then, it was something that was unforgivable in the eyes of KG and Pierce. Today, everyone is happy to see them on good terms again, and KP is even trying to push for Allen’s number to be retired.
It is time for the Boston Celtics and Wyc, Steve, Dr. Cash, the whole entire ownership group to put their pettiness aside as well and retire Ray Allen’s jersey. I mean, his jersey deserves to be in the rafters. Let’s not get that misunderstood. And I think after KG’s speech, at his retirement, after Ray walked out there and they hugged, you know KG said, “You’re next.” And he meant that like, “You need to be up there.” Cuz we all know, we wouldn’t have won the championship or had those great playoff runs without Ray Allen. He was just as important as Paul and KG and I think the ownership group knows that and I think the organization, the fanbase knows that, so I think it’s time to retire Ray Allen’s jersey in Boston.
Allen, a 10x All-Star, played 5 seasons for the Celtics. In 358 games with the team, he averaged 16.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game on 47% shooting.
Allen was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2018. He was crucial to their 2008 Championship run, which stands today as Boston’s most recent title.
