Chris Paul might have bled green if not for Doc Rivers’ sentimentality.
That’s what former NBA star Ray Allen claims in his soon-to-be released autobiography, “From the Outside: My Journey Through Life and the Game I Love,” about a reported trade proposal in which the Boston Celtics would have acquired Paul prior to the start of the 2011-12 season from the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for Rajon Rondo.
The deal fell through, Allen says, because then-Celtics coach Doc Rivers didn’t want to pass on the headache Rondo had become by that point to Hornets coach Monty Williams.
“In the end, Doc decided he couldn’t do that to their coach, Monty Williams,” Allen writes, per Sporting News’ Sean Deveney. “Doc was a mentor to Monty, having coached him in Orlando.”
Media reports at the time claim the Rondo-Paul trade fell through because Paul wouldn’t commit to signing a long-term contract extension with Boston, so Allen’s version of events somewhat contradicts the information the public previously received.
The Celtics eventually traded Rondo in December 2014 to the Dallas Mavericks. He clashed with Mavs coach Rick Carlisle two-plus months after his arrival, and his tenure in Dallas ended in July 25.
