Thank You Ray

Ray Helps Raise Banner 17 

The year was 2007, and GM Danny Ainge had pulled off an absolute miracle. He acquired two superstars who combined with homegrown star Paul Pierce to form a new big 3 in Boston. After seemingly everyone predicting that they’d be unable to make serious noise in year 1, understandably needing some time to develop their team chemistry, the Celtics proved everyone wrong. They secured the league’s best record, winning 66 games along the way. After an unforgettable playoff run, the Celtics’ road brought them to the Staples Center, in a position to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the 2008 NBA Finals against their arch rival Lakers. Unfortunately for the Celtics however, the Lakers would have something to say about that potential 3-1 lead. Midway through the second quarter, Boston found themselves down by a whopping 24 points after Sasha Vujacic rattled home a contested 3 pointer. The crowd was going absolutely wild as the Lakers were well on their way to a blowout win, bringing the series to a stalemate at 2 games to 2. The Celtics however managed to respond in a big way, as bench players Eddie House and James Posey caught fire, fueling an epic comeback for the ages.

All us Celtics Fans out there remember Posey’s wild game, including that iconic stare down after draining the three to bring the Celtics within 1 with just under 6 minutes to play. What most people don’t remember however is who the Celtics’ best player was that night. That iconic Posey three? Guess who created penetration and kicked the ball out to give him the open shot? As luck would have it, it was the same guy who scored 19 points on a sizzling 54% shooting. That player also managed to grab 9 rebounds in the game, something that is pretty unusual for a guard. In addition, this player matched up against Kobe Bryant for nearly the entire game, holding the reigning MVP to just 31% shooting on the night while also racking up 3 steals and a block in the process. Oh and speaking of the entire game, this player didn’t step off the court for one second, the only Celtic with the necessary conditioning and skill to last throughout the entire game. So who was this superstar you ask? Well why don’t you check out the video below, and see who had the ball in his hands when the Celtics needed 1 bucket to ice the game.

As all you true NBA Fans know, the Celtics would go on to beat the Lakers in 6 games, bringing home that 17th Banner that had eluded them for so damn long. For Celtics Fans, the lasting memory of the series came when captain Paul Pierce went down in Game 1 with an apparent knee injury, and was seen taken to the locker room in a wheel chair. After just a few minutes, Pierce came running back out of the tunnel to the amazement of everyone watching. When he checked back in, Pierce seemingly couldn’t miss, and the Lakers just looked shell shocked as the Celtics went on to win Game 1. Pierce followed this performance up with a great Finals, and at the end of the day took home the NBA Finals MVP Award. Although the team captain and longtime Celtic was very deserving of the award, his teammate Ray Allen definitely had a strong case. As I’ve said, Allen was so key to the Celtics’ win on both ends of the floor, and statistically, it’s safe to say he outplayed Pierce. Allen averaged roughly a point less per game but shot 7% better from the field, also beating The Truth out in rebounding, steals, blocks, minutes played, and most impressively shot a blistering 53% from downtown throughout the series. In addition, Allen did all this while covering a guy who at the time was supposedly the best scorer in the game.

Look, I love Paul Pierce and think that he definitely should have won Finals MVP in 2008. That being said though, I think you had to give it to him due to the fact that Boston was his city, and he was the captain of the team. If they were handing out a Best Player in the Series Award however, I think that it should have gone to Allen, and that my friends is the problem. If you stopped random Celtics Fans at North Station right now and asked them who was the best player in that series, I’d be shocked if anyone said Ray Allen. Due to his somewhat ugly exit from Boston, Ray’s relationship with his former teammates and the city itself is just in such a weird place. Fans refer to him as a traitor, his teammates are just finally starting to talk to him again, and overall, Ray’s time in Boston is being criminally under appreciated. Although he is somehow remembered as a 3rd wheel, he was just as big a part of their success as both Garnett and Pierce were. So now that Ray is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, I think it’s as good a time as any for all the Celtics Fans out there to swallow their pride, and thank Ray for his time in Boston. In case you need a refresher on just how important he was to those teams, here it is.

Ray Saves the Celtics in the First Round (2009)

The Celtics looked like they were in a great position to defend their NBA Championship when star big man Kevin Garnett went down with a knee injury. Although most of the national media and Celtics Fans alike left the Celtics for dead without Garnett in the fold, they still had Ray Allen and Pierce. In the first round of the playoffs, the Celtics were matched up against a young Bulls Team who were led by their promising former number 1 overall pick, Derek Rose. After falling to the Bulls in Game 1 of the series, the Celtics were tied with just seconds left in Game 2. The game looked like it was headed to overtime and honestly, the Celtics just looked overmatched. That was of course until coach Doc Rivers drew up a play to get Ray Allen an open look for the game.

What a f****** shot! Allen was able to come off a screen, and burry the dagger over the outstretched, gigantic arms of Noah. For me, this is the most memorable buzzer beater Ray had as a member of the Celtics, and for good reason. The degree of difficulty of this shot was crazy, as Noah actually defended it very well. In addition, you have to consider the gravity of this shot. Even though I am incredibly biased towards the Celtics, I can admit that they would have probably lost this game if it went into overtime. With the loss of Garnett, the Celtics just looked off in the first 2 games of this series. The Bulls looked like they wanted it more, and I’m sure they would’ve gotten off to a 2-0 lead if Ray didn’t hit that shot. That being said, this wasn’t even Ray’s best game of the series. That came in Game 6.

If you don’t have the time to watch the whole video, just skip to 4 minutes and 35 seconds. Once there, you’ll see Ray hit a shot very similar to the one that would later mark his greatest career highlight. This time however, his foot was on the line. There was no need to worry though, as even though everyone watching knew who the ball was going to, the Bulls could do nothing to stop it. Ray caught the ball off the inbound, and knocked in a 3 with a Bulls Defender practically in his jersey to send the game to triple overtime. Unfortunately for the Celtics however, they would go on to lose the game in that triple overtime despite the epic performance by Allen. Ray would finish the game with an absurd 51 points on a sizzling 56% shooting, playing a team high 58 minutes and 45 seconds. He would even chip in 3 steals on the defensive end. All this being said though, Ray didn’t have his hands on the basketball to end the game. The game ended on a half court heave by point guard Rajon Rondo, a guy who it turns out Ray wasn’t particularly fond of. Maybe this is where that all started, as I’d be pretty pissed too if I was having the game of my life and my point guard still decided not to give me the ball, but more on that later. For now, just remember how Ray Allen was inhuman in this series, which was actually one of the most entertaining I can ever remember having the privilege of watching.

Ray Takes Game 2 of the 2010 NBA Finals

So as we all know, things didn’t go nearly as well for the Celtics in their Finals Rematch with the Lakers in 2010. I still maintain that Game 7 of the series was the most poorly officiated game of basketball I’ve ever seen, and that the Celtics should have easily won that series. Anyways, one of the only reasons they were in a position to even play a Game 7 was because of Ray’s Game 2 Performance.

Although Allen didn’t have the best series shooting the basketball from an overall standpoint, there is no denying that he pretty much singlehandedly carried his team to a win in this one. Ray Allen hit a then NBA Finals Record 8 threes in the game, finishing an absurd 8-11. He posted a team high 32 points and 43 minutes, as the Celtics managed to tie the series up at 1 game a piece. Just like the year before against the Bulls, the Celtics nearly dug themselves a huge hole that they may not have been able to get out of, and Ray was able to singlehandedly pull them out of the abyss. So Ray gave the Celtics a chance in this series, giving all the Boston truthers like myself an opportunity to complain about the officiating until the end of time. Thanks for that Ray!

Ray Breaks Reggie’s Record

The next year, Ray was closing in on Reggie Miller’s all time record for career 3 pointers made. As luck would have it, Ray would enter the regular season rematch of the Finals against the hated Lakers just one shot away from tying the record. The game was in Boston, and the crowd was ready to go wild for the NBA’s new three point king.

With the first quarter not even at a close, Ray wasted no time in getting the record all for himself. I very distinctly remember watching this game live, and just looking at the highlights still gives me goosebumps. This was a primetime game and a night to settle the score against a bitter rival, but in that moment, it seemed like nobody even cared. In that moment, the only thing anyone wanted was to see number 20 hit one more 3 pointer and claim the record. Once the ball went through the net, the Garden erupted like the Celtics had just won the NBA Finals. That Boston crowd was so proud of Ray that night, and it was truly a special moment to say the least. When Ray looks back at his career as a whole, I’m sure that this was absolutely one of the highs, and I don’t really care at all who won the game. For the record though, it was the Celtics.

Ray Takes his Talents to South Beach

So if he had all of these amazing moments, then why are things so bad between Ray and Celtics Fans? Well, it all comes down to Ray’s decision in free agency during the summer of 2012. Earlier that summer, the Celtics took hated rival LeBron James and the Heat to the brink of elimination in the Conference Finals, actually having a chance to reach the Finals with a Game 6 win. LeBron however proceeded to rip the heart and soul out of every Celtics Fan, blowing them out in Game 6, and then leading the Heat to a close win in Game 7. After that crushing loss, Ray was a free agent, and the Celtics made him a pretty solid 2 year, 12 million dollar offer to stay in town. The thing is though, money wasn’t even close to the number 1 reason for his eventual choice. In my opinion, the biggest thing that caused Ray to leave Boston was the team’s poor decision making in terms of showing him the respect he deserved in that final season.

Avery Bradley, a promising young shooting guard, really seemed to be blossoming into a solid player for the Celtics. Although he was limited to say the least on the offensive side of the ball, he was a scrappy, talented defender who the fans instantly fell in love with. As a result of Bradley’s emergence, the Celtics heavily shopped Ray at the trade deadline, and when they couldn’t find a deal to ship him out of town, they decided to instead bring him off the bench. At that point in his career, Ray had just done too much for the Celtics to be openly shopped at the deadline and then benched in favor of a younger player who may or may not have been better. Although Ray would get his job back late in the season due to an injury for Bradley, the damage in my opinion had already been done.

Another thing I believed that caused Ray to leave was his relationship with point guard Rajon Rondo. At this point, Rondo had started to soak up all of the praise, and had gone from the humble young point guard he was when Ray arrived to something different altogether. Rondo had become absolutely obsessed with generating stats, just pounding the ball into the ground hoping to get assists so that he’d make the All Star Game. To make matters worse, he was constantly trying to make fancy passes in unnecessary situations, something that I’m sure a sound, no nonsense, fundamental player like Ray wasn’t very fond of. Ray had just become disgruntled with the entire situation to say the least, and can you even blame him? The team made it absolutely clear that they didn’t want him around anymore. He had to beg his point guard to let him touch the ball. They wouldn’t even come close to the 3 year 27 million dollar deal he wanted. So what did Ray do?

He signed the mid level exception to go play with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and the Miami Heat. When this deal broke, I have to admit that I was incredibly mad at Ray. After logically thinking it through from his point of though, what would I rather do? The Celtics had already signed Jason Terry, so Ray’s role with the team was what exactly? A once great player battling with Terry to be the 6th man while Pierce and Garnett were unquestioned starters? In contrast, he could go be the unquestioned 6th man in Miami, playing with 2 incredibly unselfish players who just so happened to be elite distributors. It seems like a pretty easy decision when you put it that way, doesn’t it? Why would Ray show loyalty to a team that showed him none, and piss away the end of his career when he could go have a big role on a team that was a title favorite? Ray made the logical choice, and he’s been pretty much shunned by Boston Fans ever since.

Thank You Ray

So the year is now 2018. It’s been over 6 years since Ray was excommunicated from the city of Boston. Has it finally been enough time for all us Celtics Fans out there to forgive this guy? Although it is technically forgiveness, I really don’t think Ray did anything wrong, and neither should anyone if they actually sit back and think about it. In that 2012 season, the Celtics repeatedly humiliated Ray by shopping him at the deadline and taking away his starting spot. They didn’t treat him with any loyalty whatsoever, so why should he be killed for doing the exact same thing to them come free agency? When thinking about Ray Allen’s time in Boston, it’s time for fans to just get over him going to Miami. He had a ton of memorable moments on the Celtics, which I’ve nicely placed here on a silver platter for any doubters. In addition, Ray was always willing to help in the community, a fixture at various service events in Boston. Perhaps most importantly however, the Celtics don’t win the 2008 Finals without Ray Allen. Anyone who thinks otherwise is out of their God Damn mind. So from the bottom of my heart as a die hard Celtics Fan, I want to say thank you to Ray for all his hard work and those amazing memories that I’ll have forever. Now, it’s time for the rest of you Celtics Fans out there to do the same.