Ray

[Dogdeacon]

First of all mau, I'm not talking about the run-up to the Miami game. I'm talking about the talking he did on the way out the door, and over the summer, when he was the only one making his departure an issue.

Second, I don't know how it's a joke. If we have no problem with kids getting recruited over, why do we wring our hands when the same thing happens to a 30-something zillionaire? They made him an offer based on what they envisioned his role being. He didn't take it. So goes life. This whole "disrespected" thing is a little over the top. By the definition thrown around here, Paul Pierce has endured an awful lot more disrespect in his 15 years in Boston than Ray ever did.

Go back and read Ray Allen's comments. I agree that he talked about this too much and should have taken the high road and said no comment, but he never says they disrespected me or I left because my ego was hurt. He doesn't say he wanted to be treated like a star. He says that he disagreed with how he was being used, wanted things to work differently. I think part of why he spoke (again too much) was honestly playing defense to the Celtics making public statements about what they offered him and how they wanted him back that were arguably made public by the Celtics MORE because they didn't want the bad PR for not bringing back a popular player. So Ray felt he needed to set the record straight and point out that both basketball-wise and contract wise the Celtics didn't want Ray quite as much as the Celtics PR campaign indicates. But everyone who writes about it and thus fans turn those basketball statements into respect, ego and other bull$hit. Its simply not true that the Celtics needed to kiss his or something and he would have stayed. Ray essentially says I didn't stay with Boston because in the past and going forward the Celtics weren't going to maximize his role. I don't think that's ego, I think that is a fact about what takes place on a basketball court. I think its about the sport and you can even break it down by numbers. Want to bet that Ray shoots a better percentage this year than he did last year?

Ray's quotes:
“I was very loyal to the city and I love the city, but when it came time to keep me in a uniform [the Celtics] did everything they could to seem like … to not want me to come back,” Allen said.
"In Boston, they were telling me they were going to bring me off the bench — 'We're going to play you less minutes' — and all I asked was, 'How are you going to use me because the last two years you've been using me as decoys,' " Allen said. “ "'You're running all these plays for me just to pass it to somewhere else and you're not putting me into any scoring opportunities and I'm just standing over in the corner the majority of games.' "
Re: Miami Ray says;
 ‘This is how we envision using you.’ It was better than what Boston was telling me and that was the team that I played on.”

But then in between the quotes the writer says its about respect and ego... To me those quotes are about BASKETBALL. And again, no one disputes that Ray's effectiveness, usefulness etc.. is maximized in Miami. At most you can claim Ray didn't accept a worse basketball fate in Boston because the Celtics weren't loyal enough to him for him to accept a declining role. But again, why take that role even if you love the Celtics and are super loyal if you have another opportunity with a greater chance of winning and a greater chance of being effective on the court?!
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/...-miami-heats.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy