When Ray Allen chose to leave Boston as a free agent and join Eastern Conference rival Miami following the 2012 season, it didn’t sit well at all with two of the Celtics’ biggest stars.
Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were upset by Allen’s decision, even though he wasn’t guaranteed a thing in Boston and was the subject of multiple trade rumors in his final season there. The grudge is still being held, too, as Allen said earlier this year that neither player has spoken to him since he left.
Things got weirder once Pierce and Garnett were traded to Brooklyn, because since Garnett had to waive his no-trade clause for the deal to be completed, Allen saw that as being similar to what he did because that was a decision to leave, as well.
LeBron James even commented on it; that’s how public this feud got. But Doc Rivers, who chose to leave Boston himself once the rebuilding began, believes that someday the fences will be mended between the three former teammates.
From Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald:Doc Rivers is willing to mediate the fractured bond between Ray Allen and his basketball brothers who still refuse to talk to him, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
“The Ray/Paul/Kevin thing will be fixed,” Rivers told the Herald of his new lease on life after the Clippers finished their morning shootaround yesterday in Cleveland. “You forgive. Ray had to make a decision for himself. I was upset about it at the time, but he did so many good things for our team. So it will be fixed. If I have to get involved in it myself, I will, though I hope not.”Rivers has his own issues to repair, at least with a percentage of the team’s fan base. And he’ll get his first crack at it on Tuesday when the Clippers face the Celtics in Boston for the first time since Rivers’ departure.