Ray Allen returns to Boston - how will you react?

So tomorrow (Sunday) is the day that Ray Allen returns to Boston. He returns with his new running mates to find the Celtics at their lowest point of the season. You can bet he won't feel much sympathy for us because he feels like he was slighted on the way out the door. He expects you to boo and he doesn't really care.

Ray Allen's return won't spark much warmth in frigid Boston - Yahoo! Sports

"Everywhere you go when you're on the road you're going to get booed anyway," Allen said. "I expect that because I'm on the other team now."

Chances are pretty good that Ray will at least get some kind of video tribute. That would be the ideal time for folks that want to pay their respect to give him a polite round of applause for this time in Boston.

The reaction for Ray? - Boston Celtics Blog - ESPN Boston

Just about every key member of that 2007-08 championship team got a tribute video at the first timeout during their first trip back to the Garden (even Glen Davis got a minute). This is one of the rare times where the divorce was somewhat contentious (the Celtics traded away the likes of Davis, Eddie House, and Kendrick Perkins).

And Doc Rivers would like to see him treated with respect.

"I hope Ray is treated like a king in his return," Rivers said. "We shouldn't focus on why he left or where he went. We should embrace and celebrate what he did for us when he was a Celtic. And he was a great Celtic."

That's all well and good, but he's a member of the Heat now and he chose that path willingly and scornfully. I appreciate what he did while he was here, but he's gone now and not high on my list of folks I feel I need to show a lot of love to. Tell ya what, if I see the video tribute, I'll give him a silent head nod. That's about it.

One former teammate isn't as excited about Ray's return and even questions his motivations from the prior year.

Metro - Ray Allen back in town this weekend, could bury reeling Celtics

One former Celtics teammate of Allen's told Metro Boston that the way in which Allen left - choosing Miami over Boston shortly after that team knocked the C's out of the postseason - irked him a bit. The player understands that Allen had to do what's best for himself, but wondered if his future with Boston, or the possibility of joining the Heat in the offseason, was on Allen's mind even when the two sides were playing each other in the postseason.

What does that mean exactly? I don't know but I think it was clear that Ray was thinking about leaving since the trade deadline or earlier and perhaps started thinking about joining the Heat even as he was doing (I hope) his best to beat them.

Regardless, Ray Allen is the least of our problems right now. The defending champs and holders of the East's best record come to town to face the 3 games under .500 Celtics who are struggling to hold onto the last playoff spot. This might be a first round preview or it might just be sad or a little bit of both.

Now watch the Celtics go out and mop the floor with Miami. That would just about make sense this year.