Rajon Rondo Refuses To Take Blame For Ray Allen Joining Miami Heat

It was one of the most shocking moves in NBA history.

In 2013, Ray Allen left the Boston Celtics to join the rival Miami Heat. The Celtics and Heat had one of the best playoff rivalries of the decade. The move created even more bad blood because the teams met twice in the postseason, including the Eastern Conference finals the previous season.

"It was the Celtics and it was the Heat and it was smoke every time we saw each other," Celtics guard Rondo said during an appearance on Dwyane Wade's podcast. "So we're at war, that's the mindset. We at war and then one of our troops joins the opps."

Rajon Rondo shares how he felt when Ray Allen joined the Miami Heat.

Posted by Dwyane Wade on Tuesday, April 8, 2025

One of the notions for Allen leaving was his relationship with Rondo. Many felt Rondo formed better bonds with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, leaving Allen on the outside. So he decided to join Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh in Miami.

Rondo said he had nothing to do with Allen's decision.

"People wanted to point like, `me, me, me,"' Rondo said. "It wasn't as much as what it did for the Big Three because those guys were the ones that were together. For me, Ray was my dawg. He was my backcourt mate and I love playing with Ray but it was like I wasn't as attached as people thought I was. Again, Ray is 10 years older than me."