The Boston Celtics are one of the most storied franchises in the league with over 16 NBA championships and various records that are held by the team. The team was also home to the explosive trio of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
While the trio paved the way for many modern trios, they also had their fair share of fun and chaos that created headlines all around the league.
Hilarious Ray Allen incident led to significant change in Celtics locker room
Secret Santa is one of the most popular Christmas games all over the world. The element of secrecy adds to the joy and chaos the game brings, an experience that the Celtics team had which continues to bring laughter to their lives.
Two stars of the trio, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce sat down together to talk about the former glory days that run through the minds of every Celtics fan. Garnett and Pierce went on to talk about the team’s Christmas tradition, the Secret Santa, a game that the team played amongst themselves. The two superstars broke into laughter when they remembered the incident, which saw every player on the team receive designer bags like Gucci, apart from Ray Allen.
While all the players were excitedly enjoying their newfound treasures, sharpshooter Ray Allen too expected something luxurious and opened his present hurriedly, only to lay eyes on an entire season of ‘Martin’, a popular TV show at the time in DVD that he later discovered Celtics player, Leon Power. As Allen was disappointed with the present of the sitcom, Pierce and Garnett cracked up, holding their designer bags.
Remembering their fun, Pierce said, “Leon Power gave Ray Allen the whole season of Martin on DVD. Ray Allen got the whole season of Martin Lawrence. We start cracking up.“
Calling the present a last minute purchase, Garnett and Pierce later revealed that changes were made to their game, making sure every player received something luxurious to celebrate the occasion. Garnett said, elevating the budget, “Then we had to put rules into that after that. Gift got to be $500,000, man.”
Paul Pierce shoots on Ray Allen over Heat move
Soon after the Boston Celtics lost to their rivals, the Miami Heat in 2011–12 in the Eastern Conference Finals, Celtics superstar Ray Allen entered free agency and joined the Miami Heat to join the legendary Heatles, the trio of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. However, the manner in which the move went down did not sit right with the duo of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
Following the move to the Heat, Pierce and Garnett did not interact with Ray Allen and maintained a sense of hostility with the star. Speaking on the Dan Le Batard Show, Pierce opened up on the happenings surrounding Ray Allen’s exit from the Boston Celtics. Pierce said, “This is what I did hear, and it’s about Ray Allen, and I’m not even sure if it’s true. Before the series was over, we heard Ray Allen was already looking for houses in Miami, While we were trying to beat them to go to the championship, he didn’t tell us, warn us, or give us a phone call.”
Pierce later stated that Ray Allen’s sudden move to the Heat had a lasting impact on the trio’s friendship and that Garnett and Pierce kept a distance from Allen. Pierce said, “That did feel like a betrayal, that’s why for a couple of years we didn’t talk to Ray, or we didn’t address him.”
While Ray Allen’s move came at the cost of friendship, the star managed to complete his objective of winning a ring, which he did in 2013, making significant shots for the team. Now, the three superstars have reconciled and even reunited at Kevin Garnett’s jersey retirement ceremony, which was held in 2022, thereby bringing an end to their subtle feud.
