Ray Allen is a prideful guy and this offseason, when the future Hall-of-Fame shooting guard absconded from the Boston Celtics to the Miami Heat as an unrestricted free agent, the phrase "no hard feelings" simply didn't apply. Allen felt disrespected, and when he went on WMEN radio in Miami, he was open about it (transcript via Sports Radio Interviews):
Ray Allen blames Celtics’ contract offer for move to Heat
New Miami Heat shooting guard Ray Allen said in a radio interview that the Celtics essentially forced him to go to the Heat after offering him a subpar contract.
Mike Ehrmann
”It was a business decision and the team put me in the position where we had to move. We had to go. Miami was a better choice for us based on what the team was doing, so it wasn’t, don’t boo me, boo the team in a sense. Now it’s out of my control. ... When this contract situation came down, everybody in my circle - mom, family, brother, sister, friends from college, people who watched me since I was in high school and since I was in college - nobody wanted me to resign in that situation because they thought, ‘There [is] so much left in you and this team isn’t taking care of you or treating you right.’ That’s the way I felt and it was like, if you are going to come and not put out a good contract on the table then, hey, we gotta think about going somewhere else.“The quote is a little bizarre considering he reportedly turned down an offer of two years, $12 million from the Celtics and took a contract from the Heat that pays him a little more than $3 million this year, and comes with an option in 2013-2014 with no further provisions. Allen may have felt he was worth more than the Celtics were offering him, but the ultimate decision to sign for roughly half as much money for his former team’s biggest in-conference rival turns into a puzzling one.
Of course, by saying the team "isn't taking care of you," Allen could be referring to his benching in the playoffs last year in favor of Avery Bradley, who doesn't provide the same shooting capability of Allen, but provided a spark on defense. Plus, Allen's widely reported rift with Rajon Rondo likely didn't help matters, either.
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