Ray Allen Opened Up About Leaving Boston And His Beef With Kevin Garnett
When it comes to the topic of Ray Allen for most Celtics fans, it's complicated. They without a doubt do not win the 2008 title without him. They don't even get KG without first bringing in Ray, so in that aspect he deserves as much credit for that title as any other member of the Big 3. While he was in Boston I would say Ray was everything I hoped he would be. Remember when he broke Reggie Miller's all time 3PT recored against the Lakers? That was fucking awesome
The break up? Much less awesome. The team kept trying to trade him, Avery Bradley was waiting for more of an opportunity, and ultimately Ray left for less money to join LeBron and the Heat. To many of us, his teammates included, Ray became public enemy #1. Now anyone who called him and gave him death threats over leaving is a GIGANTIC loser, but it was definitely an emotional time. It was one thing to leave, but to go to MIA? To play with LeBron? It stung. For years Pierce/Rondo/KG didn't even talk to Ray and as mad as I maybe was at the whole thing, that hurt to see because of how much joy these three shared together. In recent years Pierce and Perkins have squashed their beef, their issue was more that Ray never really told them what he was doing, but KG and Rondo I always felt were different when it came to Ray.
It sucked that he missed Pierce's jersey retirement ceremony. My hope is that he'll be there not only for KG's but also KG's induction ceremony into the HOF. That provides the perfect opportunity for everyone to get together and be the Big 3 we know and love. I hope they have whatever conversations need to happen and they work through it. Garnett doesn't exactly strike me as the forgiving type, but I hope it happens.
You know what's weird too? During this quarantine they've been showing a bunch of the old Big 3 Celts games and the more I watch them the more I realize I'm really not even that mad at Ray Allen anymore. I didn't think that would ever happen if we're being honest, but as time has gone on and I rewatch those old games, I'm more thankful than angry.
They say time heals all wounds, and I'm hoping KG is open to Ray being there to join in on celebrating his unbelievable Celtics run and HOF career.