Celtics reunion
As organized by the Bulls’ Rajon Rondo, the affair would be “an out-ofthe-country thing at an undisclosed location. We’re going to get it together, enjoy life, reflect, and check on each other. Next year will be the 10-year reunion, but I’m going to do it
Early this week, The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears had an interesting story on how roster members of the 2008 Celtics are slated to get together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their championship. As organized by the Bulls’ Rajon Rondo, the affair would be “an out-of-the-country thing at an undisclosed location. We’re going to get it together, enjoy life, reflect, and check on each other. Next year will be the 10-year reunion, but I’m going to do it this summer.” Which is all well and good, except, that is, for one thing: Ray Allen, who starred for the green and white that season (and every season until his departure in 2012), isn’t invited.
To be fair, Rondo can include whomever he wants to his gig; it’s his right to pick and choose the people he’ll be trading stories with. That said, reminiscing about the good old days without a cog that helped make the old days good in the first place is ridiculous. Sure, Allen ruffled a lot of feathers by moving to the rival Heat for significantly less money. Then again, isn’t that what free agency is all about? And weren’t there extenuating circumstances that led the 10-time All- Star to change addresses?
It’s easy for Rondo — and, yes, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce — to harbor a grudge against Allen for “go[ing] with the enemy.” Yet, it can’t be argued that they continued to make him feel welcome; in his last year with the Celtics, he clashed with them and became the subject of trade talks, with the front office dangling him in pursuit of better options. Perhaps he could have made the lines of communication more open before he left. Nonetheless, his situation isn’t like Kevin Durant’s, who was wooed by the Thunder until the very end, only to choose the Warriors without so much as a by your leave.
The grudge is petty, because, simply put, the Celtics would have had no title without Allen. For one thing, he was the catalyst for the acquisition of Garnett from the Wolves. For another, he was beyond clutch as they did battle with the Lakers for the Larry O’Brien Trophy; his advanced stats dwarfed even those of Finals MVP Pierce. Given his myriad contributions, contending that he was a traitor just for subsequently taking his talents to South Beach would be to engage in revisionist history.
Granted, Allen was not without his faults. Still, the least Rondo can do is ask him if he would like to go with them. Knowing him, he would decline; it’s not like him to join in singing kumbaya by the campfire. Which, in the final analysis, is probably why isn’t receiving an invite. They know he’ll say no, anyway, and his regrets would be akin to reopening scabs. They needed him to claim the hardware. He doesn’t need them to validate his worth.