As much as Boston Celtics fans might not want to admit it, it’s unlikely the team would have won the 2007-08 NBA Finals without Ray Allen. And one of his former teammates agrees.
Former Celtics guard Rajon Rondo revealed recently that he was organizing a reunion with the team this summer, but he openly admitted Allen wasn’t invited. Rondo and Allen, in particular, didn’t get along before the shooting guard jumped ship for the Miami Heat, and the move only made things worse.
But Leon Powe, who was a key member of the Celtics’ bench that season, thinks the whole issue is ridiculous.
“Ray needs an invitation,” Powe said on CSNNE’s “Celtics Talk” podcast Friday. “I don’t care who says he don’t. Rondo, anybody. But he needs an invitation. If you’re talking about the ’08 team, you can’t talk about it without Ray Allen. You can’t have a celebration without Ray Allen.
“I don’t know how you compartmentalize from that because without him we wouldn’t have won it. He was everything to our team, especially from that 3-point position. And he did a little bit more. But we’ve got to get over this pettiness, though.”
Powe also had a pretty funny take on what he would have done, but in the end, it’s hard to argue with his overall message.
“I love all them guys,” Powe said. “I love all them guys, but we got to get over the petty, and if you’ve got a problem, you’re going to see him face-to-face. That’s what I would have did. If I got a problem with somebody, I’m going to come to your doorstep. That’s how we do it in Oakland. I don’t know where everybody else from, but that’s how we do it. … It’s not good holding grudges because that don’t help nobody. It just hurts you in the long run.”
Thumbnail photo via Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports Images
