Ray Allen played a major role in helping the Boston Celtics capture the NBA title back in 2008. Teaming with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, the Celtics had a dominant Big Three that powered them to the top seed in 2008 with a 66-16 record. The Celtics also went to the NBA Finals in 2010, falling to the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2012, Allen turned down a two-year deal with the Celtics to join the rival Miami Heat. That decision led to a fallout between Allen and his former teammates. Allen recently said, “life’s too short” to dwell on that stuff.

Ray Allen’s basketball career

Ray Allen played his college basketball at UConn and was a first-round pick in the 1996 NBA draft. The Minnesota Timberwolves selected Allen with the fifth overall pick. The Wolves quickly packaged Allen and Andrew Lang to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for the rights to Stephon Marbury, who was selected fourth.

Allen went on to play 18 seasons in the NBA. He played the first six-plus seasons with the Bucks before he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in a package deal involving Gary Payton. Allen was an NBA All-Star in his final three seasons with the Bucks.

After his trade to the Sonics, Allen continued his All-Star play. He was selected as an NBA All-Star for the next six seasons and seven out of eight, giving him 10 appearances for his career. Allen played five seasons in Seattle, followed by five more with the Boston Celtics. He ended his career with the Miami Heat. Allen averaged 18.9 points per game in his career and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Ray Allen was a big part of the Boston Celtics’ success

In June of 2007, the Boston Celtics went all out. They traded the fifth pick in the draft (Jeff Green), Wally Szczerbiak, and Delonte West for Ray Allen and the 35th pick in the draft (Glen Davis). Once they secured Allen, they went after Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Celtics sent five players and a pair of draft picks for Garnett.

Garnett and Allen teamed with Paul Pierce to form Boston’s Big Three. Those deals for Allen and Garnett paid off. The Celtics won the NBA title in 2008 and returned to the NBA Finals again in 2010, falling to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Allen rejected a two-year deal to remain with the Celtics in 2012. Instead, he signed with Boston’s Eastern Conference rival, the Miami Heat. He went on to win a title with the Heat. Allen’s departure led to some bad blood between Allen and some Celtics teammates, including Garnett and Rajon Rondo.

Allen doesn’t think about the fallout with his former teammates

Back in April, Ray Allen said Kevin Garnett wasn’t the only one showing ill-will toward Allen for leaving the Celtics. Allen said got a lot of hatred from the Boston fans. “It’s 2020. You’re talking about nine years now, and I’ve gotten so much hate, death threats, vitriol from Boston fans,” Allen said, according to The New York Post. “I’ve moved on, and I’m not going to go anywhere where I’m not wanted. And I do believe that sentiment has been relayed quite often on social media and on so many different outlets.”

Recently, Allen appeared on The DA Show and was asked about the broken relationship with his former teammates. “I don’t worry about it,” Allen said. “I’ve got to the point, life is too short. You have to chalk it up in the life-is-too-short category. Life is good.”

Allen said his focus is on his family and his children. “I’m trying to figure out a way to keep them going and understand the game of basketball,” he said. “They already love it. I’m just trying to put them in positions where they can be successful and live a happy life. The people who are in my life, they mean so much to me, and that’s all that matters.”