Danny Ainge is a man of reason.
So, when he heard that the Boston Celtics plan to celebrate the anniversary of their 2008 NBA title without starting shooting guard Ray Allen, he naturally was a bit perplexed.
“Ray not getting invited to a reunion of that team would be like me celebrating the 1986 title without Kevin McHale. It seems silly,” the Celtics’ president of basketball operations said Monday, via the Boston Herald.
“We got where we got because of Ray. He was an important part of that team’s success.”
Ainge has a point, of course. Allen, whom Ainge acquired from the then-Seattle SuperSonics on draft night in 2007, averaged 17.4 points per game during the 2007-08 season and was essential to Boston’s championship run.
But the sharpshooter apparently wasn’t best friends with many of his Celtics teammates — especially Rajon Rondo — and his decision to sign with the Miami Heat in 2012 reportedly rubbed many Celtics players the wrong way.
“I know there was a bit of a rift on the team,” Ainge said, “but I don’t know to what extent, even now, that it’s so bad Ray wouldn’t be invited to a 2008 reunion. … You just hope that time heals all wounds.”
Considering Rondo is the one organizing the summer get-together, we’re not betting on the point guard burying his beef with Allen and inviting him to the party. But we do hope the ’08 Celtics take Ainge’s advice: Can’t we all just get along?
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
