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In a recent interview Ray Allen lays out his reasons for leaving the Boston Celtics.
The first set of comments I don't think anyone disagrees with or has any issue with. He did a lot here both on the court and off it. Hat tip to him for that.
How did you deal with all the negativity of you leaving Boston because you chose to come here?
"Well it was just really a shame because on one hand you could say so many great things about me as a player and my impact on the floor, and not only on the floor but off the floor, like we did so many great things in the community — not only as a team, but as individuals — and that was my community and I support it as much as I could. We had some foundation initiatives that we still continue to do, so that doesn’t change me.
It is this next set of comments that I don't really get. I guess this is where Doc says that he doesn't agree with Ray's reasons but they are what they are.
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."
I guess from a certain point of view I can see where he would feel like he was almost traded a couple of times and he wasn't featured in the offense as much anymore, but this seems a bit much. He's painting a pretty one sided picture here. It isn't like he is going to be a 1 or 2 option in Miami any more anyway. And again, I don't get why he had to go to Miami of all places. Go to the Spurs, the Thunder, pick a contender other than the Lakers or Heat and I'm all for you.
Now he's telling us not to boo him but to boo the team. Right. I don't know if I'm necessarily going to "boo" him from my living room anyway, but come on now. Whatever. Like Doc said, still hurt, still a little biter, but moving on.
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