After forming the Big 3 in 2010, the Miami Heat made another eyebrow-raising acquisition in 2012 by signing Ray Allen. At that time, the Heat-Celtics rivalry was at its peak and Pat Riley bringing in a player from their camp was a big blow.
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During a recent appearance on Udonis Haslem’s The OGs podcast, The Godfather said that the Ray Allen trade made Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce heavily upset. While Riley was simply making the best decision for his franchise, KG and the Truth weren’t happy that their teammate left their side for the rivals.
He said, “Even the thought that Ray with Boston, would come, that was hard to sell. So, we didn’t oversell Ray on it. We just sort of let Ray make his decision. And when he came, that obviously upset Kevin and Paul…but that was, I think, the significant last get for that team to win back-to-back titles.”
KG had several reasons to be upset over Allen’s decision. The two joined the Boston franchise in the same year. Allen came on board first, and that signing helped convince KG to come to the Celtics as well. In 2007, they formed their own Big 3 with KG, Pierce, and Allen. In 2008, the Celtics won a title.
After a season marred with injuries and two more Finals appearances, KG believed that they were on track for another title, but Allen left them midway.
“I took that so personal because out of the places you could have, you could have went to L.A., you could have went to another team. You went to the one team you knew that we was beefing with. You knew that was a reel beef with us, bro,” KG said on the Stephen A. Smith Show.
This wasn’t just a one-sided beef however. Members of the Heat felt the exact same way about KG and his crew. Even to this day, LeBron James is quoted as saying, “I still hate Boston. Don’t get that twisted. We all hate Boston here.”
Paul Pierce revealed what made Ray Allen leave Boston
On an episode of The Truth Lounge, Paul Pierce shared his thoughts about the Allen trade. While KG was caught up in emotions for over a decade, Pierce has a more refined take on the same. He believes that Allen had a reason to part ways from the franchise.
He said that Allen was being asked by Doc Rivers to come off the bench for the franchise, and for an All-Star, it was a tough thing to do. Pierce recalled, “Doc was like, ‘Ray, come off the bench’ That’s the reason Ray left, I’m telling you. Motherf***er went to Miami and won a chip.”
Allen moved to Miami in 2012 and added another championship to his resume the following year. So, the trade turned out to be beneficial for him, but he lost some friends along the way. A few years ago, KG came around and acknowledged that holding grudges isn’t good and buried the hatchet with his former teammate.
