In the NBA, players who win the championship together usually forge an unbreakable bond. But for Paul Pierce and his former teammate Ray Allen, their relationship took a nose dive after their 2008 title. In a tell-all on the Dan Le Batard Show, Pierce shared the origin of his rivalry with Allen and what went wrong went wrong when they split up in 2012.
“Before the series was over in Miami, we heard Ray Allen was already looking for houses in Miami,” said Pierce. “While we were trying to beat them to go to the championship… he didn’t tell us, warn us, or give us a phone call.”
Allen had agreed to join a Heat team that had literally just sent him home a few months prior, similar to the infamous Kevin Durant decision in 2016. Needless to say, it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, especially with how important Allen had been for Boston over his five years with the franchise.
Pierce and Allen were fundamental pieces of the 2008 championship Celtics team and they were competitive in the years that followed. But when Ray joined the Heat a few years later, both Pierce and Garnett severed their ties with the former Celtics sharpshooter. For years, Pierce and the old Celtics gang basically ignored Ray Allen’s contributions to the championship run and made it known they harbored no love for the veteran shooting guard.
It wasn’t until just recently that the “big three” finally buried the hatchet. At Kevin Garnett’s jersey retirement ceremony, the former teammates embraced for the whole world to see and they got visibly emotional as they re-connected after so long apart. Even so, there is still some lingering resentment there from Pierce and Garnett, who still struggle to understand why Ray never told them or warned them about jumping ship to go side with the enemy.
Ray Allen Pulled The Ultimate Betrayal In 2012 Offseason
Love him or hate him, there is no arguing that Ray Allen pulled a cold move by linking up with LeBron James and the Heat in 2012. The franchises have always had a bitter and intense Eastern Conference rivalry, but it was on another level at the time with LeBron and Pierce having clashe multiple times already. Allen, 37, was already well past his prime by the time he linked up with James but fans were still shocked (and upset) to see him head to South Beach after five years, and a lot of success, with the Celtics.
The most surprised out of anyone was the Celtics players themselves. For whatever reason, Ray Allen decided not to tell any of his championship teammates about his summer plans, and he left them to discover for themselves that he was leaving them behind to ring chase for his final two years.
While Allen was able to enjoy a championship run with the Heat, the cost was pretty severe. Besides making an “enemy” out of his former All-Star teammates, he pissed off the entire city of Boston, who (according to Allen) sent him death threats after his decision to leave.
Needless to say, Allen’s departure was a major turning point in both his career and the timeline of the Celtics. It wasn’t long after losing Allen that the Cs blew up their entire roster, leading to a rebuild that helped establish what they are today. Had he never left, it probably would not have changed much in the grand scheme of things but Paul Pierce would certainly have better things to say about him than what we’ve been hearing lately.
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