When an NBA team wins the Larry O’Brien trophy, those players and coaches are tied together for all of eternity. They will be forever remembered as champions, but in some cases, such as with the 2008 Boston Celtics, not everyone always gets along.
Boston was a cohesive, dominant unit on the court that season. They went 66-16 in the regular season before defeating the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers en route to the championship.
It was a star-studded roster headlined by Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins. Alas, they have been remembered as much by the tensions between them as the fact that they are champions.
When some of them would speak about that championship, Allen was sometimes not even mentioned by name. Despite being a core part of their success, he was seemingly on the outs with some of his former teammates.
What could have led to things getting to this point? Pierce recently revealed during an appearance on the Dan LeBatard Show why there was so much tension between the Celtics and Allen. According to Pierce, it was because Allen was reportedly planning his exit from the team while still competing in the NBA Playoffs.
“Before the series was over in Miami, we heard Ray Allen was already looking for houses in Miami…while we were trying to beat them to go to the championship…he didn’t tell us, warn us, or give us a phone call…” Pierce said during his appearance on the show.
If there is any truth to that, it is understandable why Pierce and his teammates were hurt by Allen’s actions. They were attempting to beat the Heat in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals in what ended up being the last time that core took the floor together. Allen may have known that was the end, but his teammates certainly didn’t.
If Allen was already planning his move to the rival Heat before the season was over, that is certainly a bad look on his part. But, it ended up working out in his favor as he won another ring in Miami, something Pierce and Garnett were unable to do in Boston or with the Brooklyn Nets after being traded.
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