Bringing together the NBA’s Top 75 greatest players was an amazing thing. Over All-Star weekend, we saw many basketball legends reunite and interact amid the league’s 75th-anniversary celebrations.
We also may have seen some the end of a well-known beef between old Celtics teammates.
On Monday, Celtics legend Paul Pierce posted a series of pictures on Instagram, including one with him and Garnett alongside Ray Allen.
Paul Pierce x Kevin Garnett x Ray Allen. ✊ pic.twitter.com/86ziEVqprN
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 21, 2022
Fans praised the photo, taking it to mean the end of a long-time feud between the former teammates.
It all started way back in 2012 when Ray Allen left Pierce, Garnett, and the Celtics to join the Miami Heat — a team they considered rivals at the time.
For a while, there was tension from both sides and things even got a little awkward during the All-Star game when Allen seemingly ignored his former teammates while greeting LeBron.
Kevin Garnett’s face while Ray Allen and LeBron dap up. 😂😂
(Via @Getthebagcoach) pic.twitter.com/U2Bg9envFf
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) February 21, 2022
While KG and Pierce have already made claims of ending the beef with Ray, the 2x Champion recently admitted that he doesn’t talk to the pair, suggesting that their relationship never recovered from his decision in 2012.
“We don’t talk, sadly,” said Allen. “I remember after we won in 2008, something that Kevin said, that we’re going to be brothers for life, that this is going to keep us bonded. Rip Hamilton and I are UConn brothers and champions and we’re connected for life. When he won in 2004 with the Pistons, they stayed connected and bonded. That’s something we’ve done a poor job as Celtics, keeping that bond connected. It’s not by my doing, either. The whole story of me leaving for Miami, regardless of that, it doesn’t change anything that we’ve done as a group. That group and what we did is historic. It’ll take cooler heads to prevail and for guys to say, ‘What are we mad about?’ There are so many other things happening in the world. We got to preach unity and togetherness, and for me, that’s always been my mantra. I don’t like the fact we haven’t talked. At some point, I’m sure we will have conversations and move this stuff past us.”
It appears that the 2022 All-Star game was an opportunity to bury the hatchet once and for all, and they did not let it go to waste.
Hopefully, the Instagram picture marks the beginning of a better relationship between the trio. Considering their title run in 2008, it’s hard to believe they don’t still share some kind of bond.
Who knows — maybe one day, we’ll even get to see the three of them talk about their days in Boston together.
