It took a while, but Ray Allen finally fired back at former Boston Celtics teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
Allen left the Celtics as a free agent in 2012 to sign with the Miami Heat. Pierce and Garnett labeled him a traitor, refusing to talk to him when they met up as foes, and Boston fans also accused Allen of disloyalty.
In an interview Monday with Slam Magazine, Allen finally broke his silence about his side of what happened.
In the question-and-answer format, Slam asked Allen whether the 2013 NBA Championship series-saving shot he made in Game 6 against the San Antonio Spurs was the reason he went to the Heat, and whether making that shot alleviated the burden of the grief he took for leaving the Celtics.
"I had to take interviews and hear all year that I abandoned the team," Allen said. " ... I was in a unique situation, 'cause for three years the (Celtics) had shopped me around and tried to move me. For that final year I was there, I was actually traded to Memphis. I got the phone call and told that I was traded for O.J. Mayo. I was in San Francisco to play the Warriors. (Boston general manager) Danny Ainge and I talked and he asked me how I felt about it-I told him I was upset, that I couldn't believe it. I said, 'I can't knock you; you have to do what you do for your team. I understand it's a business (and) there's nothing I can do about it.' "
The deal obviously fell apart, but it was the Celtics' disloyalty that signaled to Allen he needed a change of scenery.
"I took that into my summer, that I could potentially-regardless of what I did for the team, there's no great loyalty shown amongst the teams to the players, 'cause they'll trade you in a heartbeat," Allen said. "When they trade you, they'll tell you, "We're a team but we have to do what's best for our squad." As a player, if we want more money or ask for a trade, we are looked upon as being greedy or disloyal.
"There were some things negotiated trade-wise that I wasn't particularly happy with. The direction of the team, so many things that I wasn't happy with, and the team wouldn't give me any assurances. It bothered me. I had to move on."
Allen was not asked why he didn't say anything last year when he made the move. He did say during his free-agency see that none of his Celtics teammates called to ask him to return to Boston.
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