BOSTON -- We knew that Rajon Rondo was not happy with the Boston Celtics when they were seriously considering trading him to New Orleans for Chris Paul.
But according to former Celtic-turned-broadcaster Kendrick Perkins, two-thirds of the team’s Big Three were against the Celtics doing such a deal.
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The one who was for it?
Ray Allen.
“It was rumors starting to circulate and it was brought to the table that, what if we traded Rondo and get CP?” Perkins said on Sirius XM Radio. “KG (Kevin Garnett) and Paul (Pierce) were like, ‘nah, we ain’t doing that.’ As great as CP3 is, we just won a championship, we rockin’ with ‘do (Rondo). He’s giving us everything that we need. But Ray (Allen) was like, ‘nah, let’s do it.’”
Word eventually got back to Rondo and according to Perkins, “that was it from there.”
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Perkins added that it got to the point where they brought boxing gloves to the practice facility for Rondo and Allen to release some of the built-up tension between them.
“We made them box it out for like two rounds,” grinned Perkins.
That sheds added light on the contentious relationship between Allen and some of his former teammates, a relationship that has improved with some but not so much with others.
When Rondo was organizing a vacation for players from that 2008 title team to commemorate their 10-year anniversary, Allen did not get an invite.
“I asked a couple of the guys. I got a no, a no head shake,” Rondo told ESPN’s The Undefeated in 2017, when asked why Allen wasn’t invited.
After finding himself on the trading block while in Boston, Allen decided to leave the Celtics when he became an unrestricted free agent in 2012.
He agreed to a three-year, $9.5 million deal with the rival Miami Heat.
That alone irked his former Celtic teammates.
Making matters even more bothersome for them was the fact that in leaving Boston, he also walked away from a two-year, $12 million offer from the Celtics which reportedly would have included a no-trade clause.
The Heat met the Celtics that year in the playoffs and eliminated Boston before going on to win the first of back-to-back NBA titles.