Rajon Rondo was a key piece of the Boston Celtics’ 2008 title and continued to run the offense for several years alongside the team’s Big 3 before their tenure together abruptly ended. Rondo recently opened up about how Ray Allen’s departure to the Miami Heat impacted him and the rest of the team.
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The four-time All-Star set the stage, reminiscing with Dwyane Wade about how much the Celtics and Heat despised each other during this era. Every matchup was ultra-competitive, but the aging Celtics eventually fell a step behind the star-studded Heat. With this in mind, Allen believed his best chance at another championship was in South Beach.
Rondo and the rest of the Celtics, however, did not respect the three-point marksman’s decision. “So we at war,” Rondo said of Boston and Miami. “That’s the mindset. We at war, and then one of our troops joins the ops. How would you feel?”
The 39-year-old certainly wasn’t happy about the team’s best shooter joining their biggest rival, but Rondo revealed that Allen’s departure affected Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce more.
“Those guys were the ones that were together,” Rondo said of the Big 3. “Ray was my dog, he was my backcourt mate, and I loved playing with Ray, but I wasn’t as attached as people thought I was, in a sense. Because again, Ray’s 10 years older than me.”
For Pierce and Garnett, Rondo believes they were more hurt about losing their friend than anything else. Rondo himself was more concerned about losing his sharpshooter to a team they were already struggling to beat. Even Allen has spoken on his departure in recent years, confused by the disdain from his former teammates.
Ray Allen spoke about leaving Boston for Miami
Ray Allen spent five years with the Boston Celtics. Certainly, a good chunk of his career, but still less time than he spent in Milwaukee and the same time he was with the Seattle Supersonics. So the veteran sharpshooter was confused why Pierce and Garnett were so furious with him when he made a choice for himself near the end of his career.
“Why do I have to apologize for doing something I was supposed to do?” the Hall of Famer said. “When we get drafted into this league, they tell us, ‘Do you have goals of winning the championship?’ That’s our mission; that’s our goal.”
Allen did accomplish his goal once again, helping lead Miami to the franchise’s third title in 2012-13. Meanwhile, Pierce and Garnett were soon traded away from Boston anyway. Neither Pierce nor Garnett came close to another title, so it seems as if Allen did make the best decision for his career.
