Things haven’t been great between Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen, but it’s not a total drag for the latter to say something kind about the former.
Allen is making numerous public appearances as he promotes his new autobiography, and during an appearance on Sports Illustrated’s “The Crossover,” Allen shed a little light on how he feels about his former Boston Celtics teammate.
Co-host Matt Dollinger bet Allen that the retired sharpshooter would have to say something nice about Rondo should Dollinger sink the putt.
He did, and this is what Allen replied with:
“I don’t think that you need a putt for me to say (something nice),” Allen said. “He’s always been extremely talented, he’s always been a great passer, at the time he was the best point guard in the NBA. He was like my little brother.”
At a different point in a more formal portion of the interview on The Crossover, Allen also discussed his tension with Rondo and admitted that he didn’t know when things began to tank between him and the guard.
“I’ve always thought he was an incredible talent, he was like a little brother to me, ” Allen said in a preview clip of the episode. “Somewhere along the road those lines got blurred, and there’s a point where we deteriorated, I don’t know where that point was.”
“I’ve seen (Rondo) do some great things on the court,” Allen continued. “He certainly is a great talent, but I’ve seen him get in arguments with a lot of different people. Like when I looked up and all of the sudden I’m in confrontation or beef with him I’m like, ‘where did this come from?’ I understand my point of views, it’s alright to agree to disagree, and you know you are who you are, you come from where you come from. We’re going to disagree about something at some point in time, but just respect the other person in front of you. You’ve got to respect time, other people’s time and you’ve got to come to work every day.”
Things have not been great between Allen and his former Celtics teammates since he departed in free agency to join the rival Miami Heat. In the aftermath, Rondo spearheaded the exclusion of Allen from the reunion of the 2008 NBA Championship-winning team. Part of Allen writing the book, however, is so he can tell his side of the story.
Rondo’s response to Allen writing the book was that “he just wants attention.”
