BOSTON – Ray Allen recently spoke with NBC Sports Boston’s Kyle Draper about an assortment of Celtics-related topics, all of which will be included in his upcoming tell-all book, “From the Outside: My Journey through Life and the Game I Love.”
In it, he details the fractured relationship he had over time with then-teammate Rajon Rondo.
“People would always say, ‘he (Rondo, the team’s point guard) looks you off … when you come off a screen, he sees you and he doesn’t pass you the ball when you’re open,' ” Allen tells Draper.
Allen also indicated that Rivers knew about the issue and added that he wasn’t pleased with how Rivers handled it.
Rivers, in Boston as a co-host of the ABCD Hoop Dreams fundraiser at the TD Garden, acknowledged the fragmented relationship that he would love to mend.
“If I had one wish, it would be to do a better job of getting that group back together,” Rivers said. “I can get a lot of them back together. I just can’t get that whole group back together. And they really should be. It hurts me to see what’s going on.”
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And while Paul Pierce has made efforts to try and mend whatever hurt feelings existed between Allen and the team’s core players from the 2008 title team, it’s clear that there are some wounds that haven’t quite fully healed to the point where those involved can move on and put whatever their differences were, behind them.
“I’ve tried; I can tell you that,” Rivers said. “It’s a lot of little things. Here’s the thing. You probably have two Hall of Fame guys as far as competitiveness. The reason Ray was who he is and Rondo is who is and Kevin and Paul … it’s also why we were really good is why they don’t get along. Very stubborn, very tough, very competitive and no one wants to give in."
During disagreements during that championship season, Rivers often quoted a phrase to his players to remind them of what matters most when it comes to differing opinions and minds at work.
“It’s about getting it right, not who’s right,” Rivers recalled. “I hope we can get that right. They need to get it right and get together.”