Sports Illustrated - Chicago Bulls guard Rajon Rondo says the 2007-08 Boston Celtics are putting together plans to reunite and celebrate the NBA championship they won that season, but one key piece of the title winning team won't be invited.
Rondo, who was the starting point guard on that team, says that sharpshooting Ray Allen won't be a part of the festivities.
“I mean, Ray left. He left to the enemy," Rondo said to The Undefeated.
Allen ended up signing a three-year, $9.5 million deal with the Miami Heat in 2012.
Pierce said that Allen's signing with their Eastern Conference rivals felt like a betrayal.
"That’s why the whole thing evolved like it did with us not talking to him. Ray didn’t really have the best relationship with Rondo anyway," Pierce said. "That was nothing. [Rondo], me and Kevin, he didn’t have any talk with us [before his Miami decision]."
Rondo said the reunion will happen this summer at an undisclosed location.
There is a lot to digest in this piece, so let's just start right at the top. The Boston Celtics original 'Big 3' didn't ever really have the continuity that they would like you to think they had, and this is just surface level stuff here.
Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo really did not like each other even when things were going well. Rondo didn't enjoy the way Allen demanded touches, and Allen didn't like how Rondo played with that much arrogance (which ultimately made him great) being a young and unproven player. Then, when things started going really badly, Allen and Rondo's feud became a team divider. Doc Rivers sided with his point guard, Allen was gone, and that was that. Garnett and Pierce, who by all accounts had good relations with both parties, were left having to side with Rondo because the team was still competing for a title and therefore cast Ray Allen as the enemy. That's why you have all of this animosity right now.
So this doesn't surprise me for one second due to the fact Rajon Rondo is the party host. Pierce and Garnett are probably going to get sucked into it again just by association.