OT - Paul Pierce on Ray Allen

[Dynasty]

Earlier today, Jackie MacMullen posted an interview article with Paul Pierce. It is a great read and Pierce is very candid with his answers. It is a great article, I think, and I encourage everyone to read it. The link is here.

One of the topics Pierce touches upon is his relationship with Ray Allen.

Here is what was said:

Pierce still engages in group texts with former Celtics teammates (and coach) Doc Rivers, Garnett, Kendrick Perkins and Big Baby Davis, but hasn't talked to Ray Allen since he bolted from Boston to Miami in the summer of 2012.

Though much has been made of it, Pierce said, people don't understand he wasn't all that close to Allen to begin with.

"It was a weird relationship,'' Pierce conceded. "We were all good friends on the court, but Ray always did his own thing. That's just the way Ray was. Even when we were playing together, we'd be having a team dinner and Ray wouldn't show up. We'd go to his charity events but Ray wouldn't show up to somebody else's.

"I called him on it. I said, 'Man, Ray, we support all your stuff but when we ask you, you don't come to ours.' I remember when Rondo re-signed with Boston, we had a little dinner at a restaurant and Ray didn't show up.

"I know Ray probably didn't like Rondo that much, but it wasn't a fact of not liking somebody. You don't have to like everybody you play with -- it's a matter of showing support.

"Rondo probably didn't like Ray either, but he came to Ray's functions to show, 'Hey, we're together in this.'

"It's not a bad thing with Ray. We had a great relationship on the court. But even the year we won it, after a game we'd say, 'Let's go have something to eat and have a night with the older guys.' We'd get there and it would be me, Kevin and Sam (Cassell), but no Ray. In a lot of ways, me, Sam and Kevin were our Big Three.

"It just got to the point where it was, 'That's Ray.' No hard feelings. Everyone made such a big deal of us not talking after we left, but there really wasn't much there.''



Interesting insight... I know there are a lot of Celtics fans here. Thoughts?

 

[nomar]

I'm sure it's accurate. It doesn't make Ray a bad person. He just likes to do his own thing.

Non-Celtic fans will probable be offended, but the posters here get offended when anybody on ESPN speaks a full sentence without mentioning our four titles.

 

[superjohn]

Paul Pierce is a schmuck, this quote just about sums up his delusions of grandeur, “I always say I wish I was in my prime matching up against LeBron, let’s see how many championships he would have won then.”

 

[nomar]

Paul Pierce is a schmuck, this quote just about sums up his delusions of grandeur, “I always say I wish I was in my prime matching up against LeBron, let’s see how many championships he would have won then.”

That schmuck with delusions of grandeur is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Sick burn dude.

 

[UCFan1513]

The few times I've met Ray in person he's been kind of a jerk. Others I know who have met him don't have the kindest things to say. These quotes from Pierce don't surprise me

 

[Stainmaster]

Paul Pierce is a schmuck, this quote just about sums up his delusions of grandeur, “I always say I wish I was in my prime matching up against LeBron, let’s see how many championships he would have won then.”

Something tells me you only consider him a schmuck because he doesn't worship the ground Ray walks on like the fanbase does.

I'm all for free discussion and broaching all sorts of topics (related and non-related to basketball) and I mean absolutely zero offense to OP, but I have to wonder what the point of posting these articles are. Whenever something less than positive is said about our program, our players, our coaches, et al. people just get upset and lash out against the source. Same thing every time.

As an aside, my old man and I met Ray's father-in-law at the AAC Championship Game this year and he couldn't have been nicer.

 

[JTLAW]

He also a punk that was involved a knife fight at nightclub where he got stabbed several times and is a notorious pothead. Good example for the kids. Way to try and punk a good guy like Ray Allen. Sounds like a guy you would want to hang out with.
.

 

[superjohn]

You guys are such touchholes, I could care less if Pierce loves Allen or hates him, also could care less that they are first ballot hall of famers. The quote about Lebron shows where Pierce feels his place in the game is. That's some serious arrogance on his part, he couldn't hold Lebron's jock. I would call Ray Allen a schmuck if he said the same thing. I dislike Garnett a lot more than Pierce and again it has absolutely nothing to do with Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, Kemba Walker or anything UConn related.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Paul Pierce seems kinda egotistical, he also just said the nets would have fallen apart last year without him, and the thing about Lebron. That being said, it dosnt mean he's wrong about Ray, he would know.

 

[UCFan1513]

and is a notorious pothead.
.

How in the world do you know that?

 

[BUConn10]

Players are humans too, they don't have to be best friends with everyone on their respective teams, although that may help with chemistry, its an unrealistic pedestal to hold players too, even Ray Allen. All we as fans can judge players by are their work ethic on and off the court, as well as their report among the league and their respective community contributions, and by those measures Ray Allen is quite universally considered to be an all around class act.

 

[Stainmaster]

Players are humans too, they don't have to be best friends with everyone on their respective teams, although that may help with chemistry, its an unrealistic pedestal to hold players too, even Ray Allen. All we as fans can judge players by are their work ethic on and off the court, as well as their report among the league and their respective community contributions, and by those measures Ray Allen is quite universally considered to be an all around class act.

Agreed, and I've heard firsthand from friends who attended JC's basketball camp that when Ray was there, he was absolutely great to work with. Not a big deal at all that he's a bit aloof and shy when with other pros. Just his personality.

 

[champs99and04]

That's interesting to read, I wonder if Ray's detachment from the rest of the team made it an easier decision for him to leave for Miami.

I don't blame Garnett or Pierce if they feel betrayed. I probably would, too. They played together for five years, accomplished some great things, and sort of revitalized basketball in Boston. To watch one of your teammates walk away to your biggest rival would have been tough to swallow.

I don't think this says much about Ray other than that some personalities just don't mesh.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

He also a punk that was involved a knife fight at nightclub where he got stabbed several times and is a notorious pothead. Good example for the kids. Way to try and punk a good guy like Ray Allen. Sounds like a guy you would want to hang out with.
.

Nice parody. You had me for a second. Incidentally, I think Pierce would be surprised to learn he was in a knife-fight. I think that would require both sides to have knives, not just the group doing the stabbing.

 

[Huskies4ever]

The few times I've met Ray in person he's been kind of a jerk. Others I know who have met him don't have the kindest things to say. These quotes from Pierce don't surprise me

The one time I met him, he seemed like a class act (there was no one else around). Same with the few times I've met KO, Donny Marshall, and Jerome Dyson.

I know someone who claimed (many years ago when KO was in the CBA) that his lone interaction with KO, left a less than good impression on him. He claimed KO was a jerk.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Paul Pierce seems kinda egotistical, he also just said the nets would have fallen apart last year without him, and the thing about Lebron. That being said, it dosnt mean he's wrong about Ray, he would know.

I think what he actually said was that he and Garnett expected to have much smaller roles as veterans than they did, and that part of the reason they ended up taking on a bigger leadership role was that certain guys (read: Deron Williams) didn't really give a _____.

I think some of you guys would be shocked to find out that the public figures you deify are just normal people with the same faults and character flaws as everyone else. And based on my limited exposure to Saint Ray, that includes him.

 

[Stainmaster]

The one time I met him, he seemed like a class act (there was no one else around). Same with the few times I've met KO, Donny Marshall, and Jerome Dyson.

I know someone who claimed (many years ago when KO was in the CBA) that his lone interaction with KO, left a less than good impression on him. He claimed KO was a jerk.

Donny Marshall has to be one of the best athletes I've ever interacted with. My dad met him while out grocery shopping this past winter, and when we ran into him at the conference tourney he treated both of us like we were old friends. Phenomenal guy.

 

[Stainmaster]

certain guys (read: Deron Williams) didn't really give a _____.

As a Nets fan who follows the team fairly closely, I can attest to this.

 

[intlzncster]

The one time I met him, he seemed like a class act (there was no one else around). Same with the few times I've met KO, Donny Marshall, and Jerome Dyson.

I know someone who claimed (many years ago when KO was in the CBA) that his lone interaction with KO, left a less than good impression on him. He claimed KO was a jerk.

Funny how people judge stars based on one brief interaction. Yet these stars have endless interactions with people whenever they step foot out the door. God forbid they have the trots on the wrong day.

 

[UCFan1513]

The one time I met him, he seemed like a class act (there was no one else around). Same with the few times I've met KO, Donny Marshall, and Jerome Dyson.

I know someone who claimed (many years ago when KO was in the CBA) that his lone interaction with KO, left a less than good impression on him. He claimed KO was a jerk.

KO, Dyson and Marshall have all been cool to me when I met them. Ran into Allen a few times and never been impressed

 

[champs99and04]

Paul Pierce seems kinda egotistical, he also just said the nets would have fallen apart last year without him, and the thing about Lebron. That being said, it dosnt mean he's wrong about Ray, he would know.

I don't disagree, but you'd probably struggle to find five guys in the NBA who don't have gigantic egos. It comes with the territory of being a pro athlete, and there are undoubtedly players way worse than Paul Pierce to knock for being cocky.

As a non-Celtics fan, I've never seen a reason to dislike Pierce. He seems like a good guy, and he's always had a classic old man's game, which I love, even when he was younger and more athletic. Just a really unique player and a lively personality. Garnett and Rondo I've never liked, but it's hard to root against Pierce.

 

[superjohn]

Probably the nicest athlete I've ever met was Rick Fox, I was a young teenager eating alone at a Sbarro's, went up to Fox and told him I was a fan of his as a player. Guy invited me over and I ate lunch with him and his girlfriend. Told him I was from CT. and we talked about UConn and how his brother plays prep ball in CT., just an awesome guy. Evander Holyfield was another good guy as was Caron Butler. Met Thruman Thomas and Cornelieus Bennett as a kid at a Knicks game and they were huge jerks. OJ Simpson was a super nice guy, so for the most part you can't really judge someone you don't know off of one interaction.

 

[Husky1964]

Was Fox's gfriend Vanessa Williams???

 

[BUConn10]

Was Fox's gfriend Vanessa Williams???

Rick Fox's girlfriend is whoever he wants it to be.

 

[pnow15]

Some people are extroverts, some are introverts. Had a friend with best all time sports story. He was a big kid around 6'3", 220 lbs and was hanging out in Miami in early Seventies. He was twenty. Was working out in a gym when Ali walks in looking for someone to spar. Ali picked my friend and he went two rounds with Ali. Ali didn't hit him, just played around and danced. It was when Ali was suspended. But gee, in a ring with Ali, amazing.