Ray Allen Opens Up About Why He Left Celtics, Says There’s No ‘Ill Will’

There finally might be an end in sight to the Boston Celtics-Ray Allen feud.

Allen’s relationship with his former Celtics teammates deteriorated over the years. He went from a member of the Big Three-era, which produced a championship in 2008, to not being invited to a public team reunion with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Co.

The former Celtics were upset that Allen went to the rival Miami Heat in free agency in 2012, but Pierce did his best to smooth things over on Instagram over the weekend.

And Allen explained his side of the story recently in an interview with Tencent’s Lisa Hsu.

“That was one of the hardest decisions I had to make because I didn’t want to leave,” Allen said, as transcribed by CBS Boston. “There is so much that goes on behind the scenes. Players and organizations understand it. But when I left, what you know is that everybody on one side is going to say everything they need to say to make their side look like they did everything they could. From my opinion, I see something totally different.

“When I realized they weren’t doing me any favors as far as keeping me, or giving me any protections or guarantees going forward, we knew it was time for us to move on.”

Allen also seemed to bury the hatchet during the interview.

“I don’t have any ill-will. When I left I was a free agent and it’s disheartening when you hear the things said negatively about you,” he said. “We won together, and when you win together you always share that bond. To me, that never changed.”

You can watch the full interview in the video below.

Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images