There is a lot of love between most of the members of the 2007-08 Boston Celtics, the most recent C's squad to come away with an NBA championship. But there is one player with whom other members of the team have some bad blood: shooting guard Ray Allen.
Allen played for the Celtics for five seasons after being traded by the then-Seattle Supersonics. He helped to create the team's "Big Three" along with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. But some members of the team have yet to forgive him for his decision to join the Miami Heat in 2012, a Celtics rival led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
In particular, Allen and Rajon Rondo have had an ongoing beef since that moment, and likely before. And as a result, Allen hasn't been included in many of the reunions and festivities that the '08 Celtics have participated in during recent years.
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That said, there are some who are confident that the feud can be settled in the future. And former Celtics guard Tony Allen is among them. In a recent interview with Cedric Maxwell, Allen spoke about the feud between Ray Allen and the C's and about how he understands why the veteran made the decision to sign with the Heat.
"I heard both sides," Tony Allen said, as transcribed by Bobby Manning and CLNS Media on Celtics Blog. "Some guys felt [Ray Allen] should’ve holla’d at them before he left, but we all know how tricky this business is. Upstairs management, he probably didn’t see eye-to-eye with them and then turmoil with the teammates just gave him enough in his mindset to say I’m just as good enough to play with some of these other talented players which was the upcoming LeBron and Dwyane Wade guys ... I’m not mad at him, I’m pretty sure Ticket (Garnett) ain’t mad at him, but we definitely need to get some type of reunion going."
Allen was adamant about that last point and seems to think that if Ray Allen was able to meet up with the rest of the Celtics and spend one day together, the relationship would be repaired.
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"You look at all these other championship teams that come back, reunite and things of that nature," Allen said. "The public eye really want to see you together, really want to see y’all in a picture together if anything. Just to kill all the noise for people like us to just stop even talking about it. I can’t wait for one of those boys to have a dinner and it’s gon’ crack ... I just think we need to do that, make that happen, somebody set that up and nip it in the bud, man.”
Tony Allen is right about one thing. Fans would absolutely love to see the '08 team back in its entirety. They are a beloved group of players, and Pierce, Garnett, and Allen, in particular, had an influence on how the Celtics have played over the course of the past decade-plus. Seeing them back together and burying the hatchet would be a sight for sore eyes.
But until then, we'll have to wait. Ray Allen still seems to be ostracized from the group, but maybe Tony Allen can set up something and get the band back together.