Paul
Pierce talks Golden State's Finals choke, Ray Allen's 'betrayal' of the old
Celtics
The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears recently came through with a typically-fantastic feature of
his, this time on the retiring Ray Allen.
In it, various former Boston
Celtics players,
staffers and coaches fawn over what a brilliant person, player, and team leader
Ray Allen was. How his voracious appetite for learning was only matched by his
diligence when it came to improving upon and, eventually, sustaining his
record-setting professional craft. Within the anecdotes, Paul Pierce discusses
the magical 2007-through-2012 run that made the Celtics so fearsome with Allen
as a prominent member.
The must-read feature also discusses, briefly, Allen’s
departure from Boston Celtics. And, because we’re only after the nasty bits, we thought we’d highlight Paul Pierce’s mood surrounding the
future Hall of Famer’s jump to the detested Miami
Heat just weeks after
the Celtics fell in Game 7 of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals to the Heat.
“That was a tough situation because we
thought it was betrayal,” Pierce said. “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. That was nothing. [Rondo], me and Kevin, he didn’t have any
talk with us [before his Miami decision].
“I tried to call him and I didn’t get
any return calls before he signed with Miami. That was our rival. We were
brothers. We came in together. We just wanted a heads-up or a ‘what’s on your
mind?’ or something like. Then, all of a sudden, he left. That was the biggest
disappointment on my end. Not even getting a callback at that moment.”
Some players don’t like to be persuaded, and that’s
understandable. Good vibes and an interest in pleasing everyone can leave you
convinced that you should, say, put your name on the dotted line and commit to an Orlando
Magic club featuring
Quentin Richardson and Chris Duhon even though you clearly dislike the group.
The best slams from all of basketball
Ray Allen probably didn’t dislike the Boston Celtics, save
for the perpetually salty (and sometimes suffused with slurs!) Rajon Rondo. He
did see the writing on the wall, though.
The 2011-12 Boston Celtics didn’t appear to be in the mix
for championship contention heading into the playoffs until the top-seeded Chicago
Bulls lost their star
and reigning MVP Derrick Rose to an ACL tear in the first game of Chicago’s
playoff run. With Joakim
Noah also falling
victim to an ankle sprain, Philadelphia downed Chicago and took Boston to seven
games in the second round before the C’s prevailed.
For the first five games of the Eastern finals against
Boston, LeBron James fell back on bad habits in letting the action come to him
– or nowhere near him – prior to dominating a must-win Game 6. From there, with
LeBron locked in, the Heat moved on to take the championship.
The Celtics success was well-earned, but fleeting. And
Allen, pushing 37 and now four years removed from his lone title, jumped at the
chance to enter the champs’ party. It’s one thing to not want to be left
smitten with a team that doesn’t suit you. It’s another to face up to a
longtime teammate to relay the real reason why his time on top is up.
Paul Pierce, in a way, followed Allen’s lead. He gave
Boston his blessing prior to the Celtics’ dealing of Pierce, Kevin
Garnett and Jason
Terry to the Brooklyn Nets a year after Ray Allen’s move (and weeks after Allen’s championship win with the Heat)
in 2013.
A summer later he followed that up by signing with
the Washington
Wizards, and in 2015 Pierce returned home to sign with
the Los
Angeles Clippers. Paul Pierce hasn’t been a Boston Celtic for 40
months, at this point.
And, as is the Clipper Way, he’s found a chance to let out
a little crank ‘ere and there. From an appearance on Any Given Wednesday, as
led in by ‘Ted 2’ earlier this week:
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