I know that the Ray Allen thing has been beaten to death on every Celtics blog and most Heat blogs as well. But the above tweet from the very astute MrTripleDouble10 caught my attention.
I think he has hit the nail on the head with this.
Ray Allen started out saying that he had to make the move that he felt best for his family and his future. Ok, I can buy that.
He also said that friction with Rondo wasn't a factor. He was taking the high road and I can respect that. I didn't like that he left the Celtics for their rival and I thought that he did it to spite the team, but he was saying the right things about it. That was then and this is now.
Suddenly, Ray started talking and destroyed his whole image with Celtics fans. Even those who might not have booed him before are ready to now.
First, he said that the Celtics forced him to leave and blamed their contract offer as not being good enough. I don't see how a $6 million per year contract over 2 years with a no trade clause was not better than a $3 million per year contract with no trade clause. But that may just be the math teacher in me. Maybe he wanted that 3rd year. But his decline and attitude over last year didn't warrant giving him a third year.
He then counseled Celtics fans to boo their team rather than him. It wasn't his fault that he had to leave. It was the Celtics fault. I'm sorry, but I don't buy that Ray. You were better off just staying quiet because your argument doesn't make sense.
Then he made this argument for why he left:
“Miami, they did everything they could,” Allen said. “It was like, even though they were limited money-wise, they were talking about how to play, how the game can be played and how they were going to incorporate me into the offense.
“ ‘This is how we envision using you.’ It was better than what Boston was telling me and that was the team that I played on.”
One of Ray's complaints about the Celtics stemmed from the fact that they asked him to come off the bench. He was clearly slowed by the ankle injury and Avery Bradley had convincingly made his case to remain a starter after filling in for Ray when he was out. It made sense. It made the team better. But Ray didn't like it, no matter how much sense it made for the team. So, the Heat's vision of using him as a sub off the bench behind Dwyane Wade was better than the Celtics' vision of using him as a sub off the bench behind Avery Bradley. Can you say much ego? Backing up Dwyane Wade is ok but backing up Avery Bradley is not.
So next,
Ray talks about where the friction between him and Rondo began. You know, the friction that
he said wasn't a factor, and obviously was a factor if he's still talking about it and even knows right where it began.
He said the friction with Rondo began in 2009 when Rivers and Celtics president Danny Ainge proposed a trade that would have sent Allen and Rondo to Phoenix for Amare Stoudemire, Leandro Barbosa and the 14th overall pick in the 2010 draft.
Allen said that, at the time, Ainge and Rivers “didn’t get along” with Rondo.
“So, I called him and I told him, ‘hey they’re supposedly trading us to Phoenix because you and Danny and Doc don’t get along,’ ” Allen said. “ ‘So, whatever you can do.’
“So, for some reason, I guess he thought that I was … that I had something against him, or there were some issues. And I had no issues with him. I won with him.”
Now, Allen says if Rondo “had issue with me, that’s on him.”
“I have a way of going about doing my job that, I want everyone to come and play their hardest and come in and do their job and I can’t, I don’t worry myself with things I can’t control,” Allen said.
So Ray blamed Rondo for the almost trade in 2009. And I'm sure he blamed him for the almost trade last year. If Rondo would just mind his own business and not push for Avery in the starting lineup. If Rondo would just be easier to get along with. If Rondo would just pass me the ball more. I'm sure he feels that those are legitimate reasons why he had to leave. And I think that the tweet above hits the nail on the head. No matter how many excuses he comes up with, he still is trying to convince himself that he made the right choice and that, to me, says he didn't.
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