Tweet of the Night goes to Jarrett Jack, who took a big swing and called Ray Allen a traitor for leaving the Boston Celtics to join the Miami Heat.
If you’re a Celtics fan, there’s reason to believe that Allen is a traitor. He left the organization and will take less money to play for a team he has played against in three consecutive postseasons – a rival team that took Boston out of the playoffs in seven games in the Conference Finals just last month.
Lets take this from Allen’s perspective, though:
1. It’s well documented that he didn’t exactly get along with moody point guard Rajon Rondo. In fact, his deteriorated relationship with Rondo played a big role in his decision to leave the team. It’s difficult to play the game of basketball with someone you genuinely dislike – win or lose – which appears to be the case here.
2. Allen willingly took less money in 2010 to return to the Celtics, but was noticeably a part of trade rumors and was nearly traded at the midway point this past season to the Memphis Grizzlies, something he was very upset about.
3. The Celtics repeatedly stated their desire to retain Allen, but recently agreed to sign Jason Terry – likely to play a bulk of his minutes at Allen’s position. With Avery Bradley already in position to take over the starting job at shooting guard next season, where did that leave Allen for playing time? The team talked up the idea of playing him together with Terry, but it would have put Allen in a limited-role situation
At the end of the day, Boston did most of the stabbing before Allen’s decision to leave the team. Even with that fact, he was torn about the situation. Like all other free agent, though, he fulfilled his obligations to the team and made a reasonable choice to join a team that gave him the best chance to win another championship – the ultimate goal for every NBA veteran.
Allen is still one of the deadliest shooters in the league, but will turn 37 this month and obviously isn’t the player he once was. It’s a loss, but it’s not necessarily the most devastating one. Boston fans may not like the choice of destination, but before they consider showering him with heavy boos next season, they should remember a true professional that was once a part of the Big Three that helped bring the only championship the town has seen in over two decades.
Louis Williams’ Tweet of the Day
B!tch move by Ray Ray. I lost most of the respect I had for him. Boston – MIA are the biggest eastern conference rivals, that shouldn’t be allowed. And i’m sick of -i hafta do whats best for me and my family” -bs. There is no more pride in the league. I’m a Lakers fan and steve nash coming was suspect even he admitted that, but i’ll let it slide bcuz at least he gave a passable reason – he wanted to stay close to his kids while contending. He also got paid…3years/27mill it’s not like he took less. And with Dragic coming back the suns are better suited for the future w/ 4 draft picks. Ray’s situation is different. He took less and joined Bostons biggest rival today.
I understand that the Lakers are one of the most successful franchises in pro sports and they have been one of the best teams in the league for a long time, but it’s not an excuse for how delusional their fans are.
Did you read what you even wrote? First, you said you were sick of all the B.S. excuses players give like ‘need to do what’s best for my family’ then you give Steve Nash a pass for wanting to stay close to his kids. Do you understand why that doesn’t make sense?
Also, it’s not like he took less money? The Raptors offered Nash a 3 year, $36 million contract. That comes out to $12mill/year. The contract he got from the Lakers in the S&T was 3 years, $27million for an average of $9mill/year. Basic math will tell you that $12mill > $9mill, so yes, he did take less. But what’s sad about Laker fans is that they probably believe $9million ‘Laker’ dollars are more valuable that $12 million ‘non-Laker’ dollars.
Finally, don’t pretend like the Suns got a great return on Nash from the Lakers in the four draft picks. Two are first rounders and two are second rounders. The first round picks are probably going to be in the 25-30 range, so it’s a total crap shoot if they’ll get any sort of return. And I won’t even comment on the second round picks. Was it better to get something rather than just let Nash walk? Sure it was, but don’t pretend like the Suns are ‘better suited for the future’ now.
Does the world look weird through Purple and Gold glasses?
I agree with most of it but the part “took less money to return to Boston” is simply ridiculous, he signed a 2 years contract worth 20M. It’s obvious he took less money, he had a max contract! Or are you implying that a max contract player must remain so ’til he retires?
He could have tested free agency for more money, more years. He was still considered that good at the time, and Carlos Boozer’s contract set the bar pretty high that season.
Boston’s Danny Ainge done messed up the team when he traded Perk. Shoulda kept that great group, gave them security and let’m ride it out. Now he destroyed it completely. Poor poor management! (oh, and Ray can go where he wants, didn’t do anything wrong!)