Getty Images Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen of the Celtics accept the award for "Best Team" onstage at the 2008 ESPY Awards
When Hall of Famers Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen formed Boston Celtics’ new ‘Big 3,’ it captivated NBA fans around the globe and innovatively paved a way for the league’s future rising superstars to unite.
Pierce, Allen, and Garnett proved that an All-Star trio could join forces and succeed.
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While checking their respective egos at the door, the 2008 Celtics proved anything was possible, including making sacrifices for the betterment of the team that resulted in capturing a championship at the end of their inaugural season together.
However, the Big 3’s run that resulted in one championship, two trips to the NBA Finals, and three Eastern Conference final appearances came to an abrupt end when Allen declined a contract extension for a less lucrative offer from the rival Miami Heat in 2012. It was a move that pitted Allen against Pierce and Garnett for years.
KG and Pierce played one final season with the Celtics before a massive rebuild sent the veteran pair to the Brooklyn Nets, via trade.
Paul Pierce On Ray Allen: ‘We Always Gonna Be Brothers’
To this day, Pierce and Garnett remain close friends. Paul, who said he made amends with Allen, buried the hatchet when the two connected overseas during an event in China, back in 2017. He posted a video beside Ray at the 2021 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Kevin, on the other hand, who was also in Springfield that same evening, is going to need more time, according to Pierce.
“We always gonna be brothers.”
@paulpierce34 keeps it real with him and Ray Allen ✊
He discussed his relationship with KG during his recent interview on CLNS Media’s Cedric Maxwell Podcast.
“That’s my brother, man. I think we’re stuck for life, we’re stuck for life, man,” Pierce said, per CLNS Media’s Cedric Maxwell Podcast. “We live five minutes from each other. Do you know what’s crazy? I move and then he moved (to LA.). We’ve lived by each other for the last 15 years in LA. Our kids are the same age. We’re forever connected. You got peanut butter and jelly, you got the Mario brothers, and you got me and KG.”
Celtics legend @PaulPierce34 joins Cedric Maxwell in this 1-on-1 about Pierce’s time in Boston, his Hall of Fame induction, and being named one of the NBA’s greatest 75 players of all time t.co/FdkLd36Dcu
Paul Pierce Planning a Podcast with Kevin Garnett
Maxwell, who has been pushing for Pierce, Garnett, and Allen to reunite since 2020 — when he brought the topic up to both former Celtics head coach Doc Rivers and Allen, who each joined Max as featured guests on two separate episodes, last year.
“You just gave me an idea, Max,” Pierce said, via the Cedric Maxwell Podcast. “Me and KG are going to do a show on Showtime and I think Ray Allen should be our first guest.”
If Pierce is able to pull it off, it would be the trio’s first public appearance in nearly a decade.
“I think over time things will mend together and I think things slowly but surely (work out),” Pierce added. “We got the chance to talk to Ray at the Hall of Fame. We were all there in the same building. And I really give a lot of credit to Doc, though. Me and KG were sitting there at the Hall of Fame and we were talking about the situation.”
“Me and Ray pretty much mended our difference and KG is still on the fence but I think that our conversation with Doc kind of smoothed things over to where you’re going to see us all back together.”
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Paul Pierce Reveals His Plan to Reunite 2008 Celtics ‘Big 3’