Ray Allen spoke out about his time in Boston and its aftermath
"You may not want to hear this, but I will always be a Celtic."
He wasn’t at the Garden for Paul Pierce’s jersey retirement, but Ray Allen insists “there is nothing but love” between the two former Celtics teammates.
“Paul and I are more interested in building bridges than putting up walls,” Allen wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday evening. “To Paul, number 34, congratulations on having your number raised up to the rafters. I salute you for your commitment to the city of Boston and to us the 2008 NBA Champions.”
The retired NBA guard shared a five-photo gallery that includes two pictures with Pierce, two of the 2008 title squad, and one of their NBA Championship banner. He accompanied the post with a lengthy caption about his tenure in Boston and the drama that ensued after he became a free agent and joined the Miami Heat in 2012.
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“Over the last few years I have been berated, lambasted and had my name smeared,” he wrote. “You may not want to hear this, but I will always be a Celtic.”
Allen was not invited to join the group’s reunion — a vacation planned by Rajon Rondo — to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their rings. Rondo told The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears the root cause of the rift is because Allen left for “the enemy.” He said the decision to exclude Allen was shared among a group of veterans.
Pierce and Allen, however, appear to have made an effort to “bury the hatchet.” Pierce shared a photo of the pair in Shanghai for the Super Penguin Basketball Celebrity Game.
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“I know eventually it’s gonna smooth over,” Pierce had told Boston.com’s Gary Dzen in June. “We’ll all sit down one day, probably have a cigar, glass of wine and talk about it. Hopefully sometime in the near future.”
