Ray Allen: “I don’t have any ill will” toward former Celtics teammates

Most of the time when a player changes teams as a free agent, his former teammates give him a pat on the back and say “it’s business.” Someday they may want to chase money or a ring or playing where they want, and they have no problem when someone else does it.

But when Ray Allen left the Celtics for the Heat after LeBron’s Miami squad knocked off Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals, there was plenty of bad blood from Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and the other Celtics. They felt betrayed.

Now the sides seem to be moving on. Pierce posted a photo of him and Allen on Instagram saying it was time to bury the hatchet (Garnett liked that photo). Allen, in an interview with ESPN, said he never had an issue with his former teammates.

“That’s a conversation that has to be had with Paul, because if you remember I haven’t said anything negative about those guys ... I don’t have any ill will. When I left, I was a free agent.”

Those guys will move on and, in a few years, will get together at the Garden to celebrate and reminisce about the 2008 title, and Allen’s move south will be a thing of the past. Even Rondo will move on. Probably. Maybe.

Now, if we can get Pierce and Allen to team up in the Big3 next year, I will pay for that trip down memory lane.