I just ate a bowl of loyalty for breakfast. It has been a creed I have lived by nearly my entire life. I played sports, and while not on a professional level, feel like I understand the locker rooms codes and relationships that are formed and abided by beyond just the regular existence of “Man Code.”
A core of the Boston Celtics 2008 NBA championship team met (Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Kendrick Perkins, Rajon Rondo and Glen “Big Baby” Davis) there was one notable figure left out. Ray Allen’s presence was not left unspoken, but the explanations while heartfelt and even emotional, came off as really quite petty… dare I even say juvenile. I am sure it brought back many memories for those watching, of being disinvited from the cool kids table in high school.
I joke, but while I get that there was initial ill feelings toward Ray Allen leaving the Celtics to go to their rival the Miami Heat via free agency, I think that both time and sensible perspective should have given this group of grown men a different insight into why they were STILL holding onto these feelings so many years later.
What did Ray really owe these men? He was a free agent. He was nearing the end of an illustrious career (that will surely see a Hall of Fame induction). He was facing a diminishing role in Boston, and if memory serves me correctly, the team had put him on the trading blocks several times in the previous year or two. He had the absolute right to choose his fate. I actually think that is part of the defined goal of the NBA’s Players Association’s hard fought right to have free agency for its players. Ray had the right to leave, and that right included going to any team and city that he felt was right for he and his family. Beside winning a championship with the Miami Heat (something none of the other panelists were able to achieve again) he seemed to choose Miami as a city in part because the warm temperatures were viewed as a health benefit for the young son he had that was suffering from acute asthma.
So what did he owe these grown men? These are professional athletes that are so quick to remind the fans that the NBA is a business. Did he owe them a call? Perhaps. A call to friends and co-workers seem appropriate, but judging by their reactions maybe it was clear to him that they did not have the type of relationship they seemed to project. Did they call him, acknowledging and understanding that his son’s health was an important part of his decision? Clearly they did not.
I am not telling you that Ray could not have handled it differently, I am telling you that years later, the 2008 Celtics need to get over it. To suggest that Ray needs to make the first move when it is clear that public sides have been taken against him, sounds almost silly to suggest. Ray is not talking about them publicly (and perceived Twitter and Instagram shade do not count). If fences can be mended its up to one of the group holding the grudge to do so. Stop letting the revisionist history and emotions dominate the memories of what were their “collective” most cherished professional athletic moments.
Ray was a integral part of that championship team. No matter how many reunions you disinvite or make him unwelcome, he cannot be written out of the history of that team’s success and accomplishments. The next conversation that group has about Ray should be talking about him in a positive light, regardless of whether he has actually chosen to sit back at the cool kids table.
#RayAllen, #KG, #KevinGarnett, #PaulPierce, #KendrickPerkins, #BigBaby, #GlenDavis, #BostonCeltics, #NBA, #2008Celtics, #MiamiHeat
