Maybe the most fascinating NBA beef that has not been resolved involves Ray Allen and his teammates from the 2007-12 Boston Celtics. Allen had a famously icy relationship with a core member of those squads – Rajon Rondo – but for the most part, he was just one of the guys on one of the best teams of the late-00s/early-10s.
And then prior to the 2012 season, Allen decided to ring chase and took less money than Boston offered to join the Miami Heat. For the members of those Celtics teams that had some incredible battles against the Heat – which at the time were led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh – this was nothing short of treasonous. Since then, contact has been non-existent between Allen and his old teammates.
It was such a strange and abrupt fallout. Allen ended up getting his ring with the Heat in 2013, providing the basketball world with one of the greatest shots of all time in the process. The Celtics, meanwhile, decided to blow the remaining two-thirds of their legendary core up in 2013 when they sent Pierce and Garnett to Brooklyn.
From there, Garnett played a few years in Brooklyn before going to Minnesota and ending his career where it started. Pierce, meanwhile, finished his career with stints with the Nets, Wizards, and Clippers.
Now, all three members of Boston’s core have retired, and after five years of tensions, at least one member of that crew thinks it’s time to patch things up. While on the set for a 2008 Celtics (sans Allen) reunion on TNT’s Area 21, Paul Pierce said the two sides need to end their conflict.
Paul Pierce on Instagram live just now: "we gotta call Ray… We gotta settle this"
— John Karalis 🇬🇷🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) May 8, 2017
The reunion features Pierce, Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis, and the host of Area 21, Kevin Garnett. This would make for incredible television if the guys were to do this on air, but even if they don’t, hopefully the hatchet gets buried sometime soon.
Ideally Allen is able to join in on the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the title-winning Celtics squad. But if that does not happen, getting Allen back in the good graces of his old teammates would be wonderful. Those Celtics squads were awesome, and hopefully we see a day where Allen is cool with everyone else sooner rather than later.
