Ray Allen says former Boston Celtics teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce have still yet to speak with him since he left for the Miami Heat two seasons ago.
"They haven't spoken to me," Allen told The Boston Herald. "For them to be so upset with me is disappointing because of how everything happened. That banner in 2008 is still going to be there, and we're still going to be tied to it," Allen said of the NBA title the Celtics won that year.
Much has changed in Boston since then, so much so that even Garnett and Pierce have now even moved on to Brooklyn. Allen admits at one point he thought that might help break the chill between the once closely-linked trio, but that hasn't proven to be the case.
"Look, I have a feeling they were in the same predicament I was in this summer.," he told The Herald. "Even with Doc Rivers, he had to make a decision that was best for himself," he said of their longtime coach who has since moved on to the Clippers. " I was in the same situation. I'm happy they were put into the same situation as I was. Anytime you get traded there's no telling where you could end up. They're in a situation now where they can contend. Kevin had to make that decision, and that was the predicament I was in."
As for Rivers, Allen says their relationship has more or less remained the same.
"Doc talked to me like I was still on his team," he told The Herald. "I got heavily criticized by each one of them the minute I left. They were upset. But the writing was on the wall for us. Celtics management was saying, 'Hey, we're moving in a different direction.' And each one of us had to make that choice. Where can we go to be successful and continue to play good basketball."
Allen later added of Garnett and Pierce "you have to make the choices you feel are best for your situation. That's why I was so disappointed in the reaction to me, because those guys know what it takes."
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