WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 19: U.S. President George W. Bush (C) congratulates the National Basketball Association champion Boston Celtics including (back row L-R) Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Tony Allen, PJ Brown, head coach Doc Rivers, (middle row L-R) managing partner Irving Grousbeck, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins in the East Room of the White House September 19, 2008 in Washington, DC. The Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers to win the 2008 championship. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The 2008 Boston Celtics NBA Championship team had a host of talent in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo.
Guided by head coach, Doc Rivers, the Celtics defeated a Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol-led Los Angeles Lakers team guided by head coach, Phil Jackson.
“It was great because I tell so many people… you have to understand that Paul [Pierce], Ray [Allen] and KG came together and formed the Big 3 in Boston,” Kendrick Perkins, a member of the that Celtics championship team told me on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show.
“They were at the end of their careers almost and they accomplished everything they needed to accomplish individually; the only thing that was left for all of them was for those guys to win the championship. And so, with that being said, it wasn’t hard for them to sacrifice and the person who set the tone was arguably the best person on the squad and that was KG. He took a backseat early so you’re watching KG, a guy that has won every award that you can possibly could name, and you watch him take a backseat; shit, everybody HAD to fall in line. And that was the good thing about it was that we had vets like those three guys, P.J. Brown, Sam Cassell, James Posey… we policed ourselves. Doc ain’t have to tell us nothing. We policed ourselves because we knew what we were trying to accomplish was bigger than any one individual.”
Ray Allen would later leave that team and join LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat in free agency and as a result it caused a rift between Allen and Garnett.
“Well you know, I wasn’t there when Ray left,” Kendrick Perkins told Heavy Live With Scoop B.
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 20: NBA players Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen arrive to the T-Mobile Magenta Carpet at the 2011 NBA All-Star Game on February 20, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
“But I think a part of it is that guys said that Doc had Ray coming off the bench and I think Ray wasn’t pleased about it and I heard when he did join Miami, it was how he did it. He didn’t call anybody, he didn’t hit nobody up; the Celtics had an offer on the table for him, he just didn’t answer the phone. Next thing you know… bam! Everybody’s reading about Ray joining the Miami Heat and so people are like, ‘Got darn Ray! We done been through war together. We don’t get enough respect for you to hit us up?’ so after that, the guys were kinda like, ‘Naw. We cool on Ray.’”
Any chance of Ray Allen and his former Celtics teammates making peace? “I think it is,” Perkins told Heavy Live With Scoop B.
“But it’s gonna have to be guys accidentally meeting up because I’m telling you, trying to get guys to come to one place; trying to call KG to say, “Hey man, we’re going to dinner and oh yeah, Ray’s going to be there…” nah. It ain’t happening. So it’s going to have to happen by accident and I’ma have to set all the guys up, ‘Hey man. Look Ray. I’m going to Vegas. Come meet me out there…’ and I’ma have KG meet me out there too; I can’t just tell him. But doing it intentionally, I don’t see it happening.”