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When Ray Allen left the Boston Celtics to sign with the Miami Heat to go join LeBron James in 2012, many saw Allen’s move as a betrayal. However, many forget that Allen was not the first Celtic from that era to go from the Celtics to the Heat back when they had James leading the way in South Beach. The first one to do that was Eddie House.
House did not go directly from Boston to Miami as Allen did in 2012. House was traded to the New York Knicks mid-season for Nate Robinson in 2010, then joined the Heat the following season. However, unlike Allen, House was not considered a traitor for joining LeBron not too long after his time with the Celtics. In an interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, House explains why the business of basketball is the Celtics were not mad House like they were at Allen while also telling it from Ray’s perspective.
“It’s the business of basketball, so you have to get over that, and, as much as it hurts, you have to understand that it’s the business of basketball,” House said. “I think what hurt them is that they had something. A core nucleus and it just seemed like it was ready to blow up again. They were about to do it again, and he had to leave. That was for the business of basketball. The business was better for him if he left.”
Ray Allen’s old beef with Kevin Garnett explained by ex-Celtics teammate @EddieHouse_50. Allen joining LeBron James, Dwyane Wade’s Miami Heat was “doing what was best” for him.
Check out our dialogue this week over at @BallySports.
In the two years he played for the Heat, Allen won another championship while also hitting what is considered to be one of the clutches shots in NBA Finals history.
House Believes Miami Provided Better Opportunities than Boston
House believes that Boston’s situation changing for the worse played a role in leaving for Miami.
“It wasn’t the same there. If it would have been the same situation there as Boston, he might have stayed. But that wasn’t the case.”
House also discouraged those who held it against Ray for doing what he thought was best for himself and his loved ones.
“The case of the matter was he had to do what was best for him, what made him feel the most comfortable. And for anybody to really be upset with what another man does what’s best for himself and his family, I don’t think people have the right to do that.”
The Celtics went 41-40 the season after Allen left, where they then proceeded to trade away Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Doc Rivers, among others, to start a rebuild. All while Ray not only won a title but made another NBA Finals appearance on top of that before calling it quits in 2014.
House was Happy to See Allen at Kevin Garnett’s Jersey Retirement
House was glad to see Allen show up for Garnett’s jersey retirement and believes the whole ordeal was not as big of a deal as people made it out to be back then.
“I’m so glad that Ray did show up, and I knew he would,” House said. “We talk a lot, and I knew that Ray was leaning toward doing this. Basically, burying the hatchet because it really was overblown, so it was good to see Ray show up to KG’s retirement. It was good to get the band back together.”
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