Jonathan says:

Traitor

A tense moment unfolded on opening night between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat.

The awkward time finally came for the Heat’s newly-acquired sharpshooter Ray Allen to face his old running mates from Boston, including long-time bad boy Kevin Garnett.

Despite the many reports of Allen having differences with star point guard Rajon Rondo and head coach Doc Rivers, the 37-year-old still felt the need to make his way over to the opposing bench and show his respects.

As a player that has gained the reputation of a good sport in the NBA, almost everyone in the stands expected Allen to make some sort of sign of respect to his former comrades.

Although it was a great effort by Allen, it was wrong for him to go over and attempt to slap hands with Garnett.

Allen left his beloved Celtic fans in the cold after their 3-2 advantage over the Heat the season before went for not in a Game 7 loss.

It’s not as if the Celtics refused to bring the veteran back. Boston offered an undeserving Allen $12 million over two years yet he settled for $3 million in 2012 for a chance at a ring.

How could a player with such a great reputation and love for his Boston fans turn his back for a potential ring? Lebron James succesfully did and Dwight Howard is in the process of doing something similar but Allen already has his ring. Selfish move by Allen.

With the signing of his Miami contract and his Tuesday night antics, he has lost the respect of one columnist and hundreds of thousands of fans across the league.

He simply can’t have the love and adoration of Miami fans and Boston fans alike and should have understood that once he put on the black and red.

Shame on Ray Allen.

Ron says:

Opportunist

Can you really blame Ray Allen for leaving a team with whiney punks and fake thugs?

Last night’s game between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, which forced Ray Allen to face his former team the first day of the new season, created an interesting predicament: would Kevin Garnett actually go through with ignoring someone he once saw as a brother simply because he switched teams to try and finish his career with a championship?

The choice was made loud and clearly as Garnett completely dismissed Allen when he tried to shake his hand, forcing Allen to tap him on the shoulder to show his respects. At least Garnett spared Allen his normal fake tough guy routine, as he’s known to bully smaller guards who can’t match the nearly seven foot forward’s trademark physical style of play.

Simply put, Garnett is being a giant baby. It’s not like Allen made a “wrong” choice, he simply went to a better team to try and win a championship at the tail end of his career. While this can be seen as selfish, his long standing feud with Rajon Rondo, who’s known for being immature around the league, coupled with yearly trade rumors and his lust for a championship, set him over the edge. So he did the best thing he could: leave. KG needs to get over this.

People are quick to point out that Allen could have made way more money as a Celtic, but staying on that team guarantees he’d finish his career without any more rings. Boston’s aging core couldn’t withstand Miami two years ago, so what makes people think they can now? They can’t and won’t, so Allen, a savvy veteran with high basketball IQ, realized this after last season’s game 7 loss and switched sides during the offseason to chase a ring.

Nothing wrong with that.