- This is Ray Allen. This is Rajon Rondo. As teammates on the 2008
NBA Champion Celtics, these two were inseparable. Allen saw himself as a mentor, and Rondo as his little brother. Years later, those 2008 Celtics still enjoy each other's company, still revel in their historic glory, but one member of the team is conspicuously absent
from these reunions, Ray Allen. And the reason why he's missing has a lot to do with the guy he once regarded as a little brother. (dramatic orchestral music) Since a young age, Ray Allen has valued
control above all else. Allen attributes his
career long excellence to control over his habits, a level of preparation that he says bordered on obsession, even pathology. But NBA players only have
control up to a point, and Allen's early career
demonstrated that. Allen's first professional experience was getting drafted by the Timberwolves, then immediately traded to the Bucks. When Allen bickered with
Milwaukee coach George Karl, the Bucks traded him to the Sonics. And in 2007, when the Sonics decided it was time to get younger, and rebuild around incoming
rookie Kevin Durant, they traded Allen to the Celtics. Boston was moving in
the opposite direction. Their star, Paul Pierce was
tired of being the veteran on a losing team full of youth. So Celtics GM Danny Ainge unloaded youngsters and draft picks in an effort to win immediately by surrounding Pierce
with established stars. First Allen, then Kevin Garnett. In one summer, Boston went from the
league's youngest team, and one of its worst, to the league's absolute best team, and one of its oldest. But the team was more than
just its veteran Big Three. Boston coach Doc Rivers depended a lot on the few remaining kids, including the youngest
player in his rotation, Rajon Rondo. Rondo had to grow up fast. He'd been a sleeper pick in the 06 draft, and a promising rookie
on the crappy 07 Celtics. A year later, he became
the starting point guard on a contending team dominated
by veteran superstars. Allen's influence helped
that rapid transition. Rondo followed him around
and mirrored his routines. The early arrivals, the meticulous shooting drills, the pregame showers. He was such a Ray disciple, that teammates mocked him for it. When those Celtics reached the NBA Finals, there were Ray and Rajon messing around together
at the end of practice. They were really close, and by defeating the Lakers
to win that 08 Championship, they secured the kind of tangible bond that can solidify co-workers
as lifelong siblings. And while those Celtics didn't
win another ring together, they remained excellent,
with Rondo joining what could be reasonably
be deemed a Big Four. He and Allen continued to form a dynamic backcourt tandem. Rajon's near mystical passing, and Ray's near perfect shooting, made for remarkable highlights, like this wizardry from 2010. But as far back as 2009, the notoriously restless Ainge
considered trading Rondo. According to Chris Broussard that summer, Rivers was finding the young
point guard hard to coach. And some of those rumored
trades to dump Rondo also included Allen and his salary. By Allen's own account, he decided to assert some control in 09. After catching wind of a rumor that had him and Rondo going to Phoenix in exchange for Amare Stoudemire, Ray called his teammate and asked him to smooth things
over with Rivers and Ainge lest both players get sent packing. No trade ended up happening, but Rondo perhaps didn't
appreciate the implications. According to Allen, Rondo's grudge resurfaced
two seasons later when the point guard insisted he'd carried the O8 Championship team, then insisted everyone
had problems with him, and when challenged, singled Allen out for that 09 conversation about both of them maybe getting traded. Over the next couple seasons, which included a heartbreaking
defeat in the 2010 Finals, Rondo continued to dodge trade rumors, exiting every off-season
and deadline still a Celtic, and with a seemingly increased roll. That didn't stop him from battling Rivers. During the 2011 Playoffs, Rondo lost his temper in a film session, and chucked a water bottle so hard it shattered a TV screen. By 2012, Allen was wondering about his own standing in Boston. He came extremely close to
getting traded at the deadline, and not long after complaining
to Rivers that Rondo deliberately wasn't passing to him, got benched for Avery Bradley. Things between Ray and Rajon
came to a head in April, when according to Allen, Pierce and Brandon Bass had an argument following a game in Indiana. That argument turned into
a heated team meeting, which turned into Rondo shouting that Allen was jealous of him, Allen shouting that Rondo needed to stop picking and choosing
when he played hard, and Rondo concluding that he was going get Allen off
the team at season's end. Allen agreed. Jackie MacMullan spoke to the Celtics in the middle of playoff run that May, and came away with the sense
that Rondo had transitioned from Big Three sidekick, to the future of the Celtics. Years after Rondo quit
following Allen around, he wasn't the hardest worker, but had become a tough and
fearless leader in his own way. Allen kind of shrugged at the development of his former protege, admitted that the two
had their disagreements, and sighed at Rondo's diminished interest in learning from his veterans. Boston ended that month by
squandering a series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals against Lebron James and the Heat. It was an ugly collapse, hinging on a blowout Game 6 loss at home, and ending with Rondo and
Garnett stomping off the floor before the final buzzer
of the Game seven defeat. That was Boston's second
straight elimination at the hands of the Heat. Once it ended, it was Ray's time to
really assert some control. He was a free agent. Boston did almost everything
to encourage Ray to stay. They offered him $6 million a year, way more than any other
desirable team would. They proposed adding
clauses to his contract that would all but eliminate
his inclusion in trade rumors. But the Celtics offer lacked
in two important ways. One was a stable significant roll. Bradley would remain the starting shooting guard, and Allen didn't even have the
veteran sixth man gunner job locked up after Boston added Jason Terry. And second, despite yet
another summer of trade rumors, Rondo would remain a Celtics centerpiece. All things considered, Allen chose the unthinkable. He signed with Miami, Boston's enemy the prior two postseasons. He did so for significantly less money, and not even for a starting roll. Immediately, Adrian Wojnarowski swooped in with anonymously sourced
armchair psychology. Allen didn't feel respect
from Celtics leadership, and still had issues with Rondo. The issues didn't affect
their play together. They were just petty workplace things. But the differences
between the military child and the free spirit were
too much to overcome. Rondo called bullshit. He said "Neither player was a bad person "and maybe they didn't get along, "but the whole thing had been
blown out of proportion." Oh and the idea that he
had ever looked Ray off was ridiculous. Ray himself focused more on the way the Celtics
had been treating him as the reason he left. Chris Mannix's anonymous source insisted Rondo was the bigger reason. And entering the 12-13 season, Allen did go into public detail about that time he challenged Rondo about the trade rumors in 2009, and suggested that's
where the beef started. Rondo's response was icy. He wouldn't even use Ray's name, which became a theme. And it certainly didn't
make anyone feel any better that Allen's move paid off, big time. When they were all together, it wasn't always clear on which side of the Ray, Rajon divide
Pierce and Garnett fell. But once Allen fled for the enemy, the choice was easy. Pierce was pretty gentle. He still considered Ray a friend, someone he loved, but said he wouldn't be texting
him good luck anytime soon. KG didn't sound like he'd
be texting Ray at all. - I don't have Ray's number, anymore, so. I'm not trying to communicate. (laughs) - [Narrator] And he gave
Ray the cold shoulder when the Celtics and Heat met on a court. Those two relationships have
since taken different paths. In 2015, Pierce still wasn't
talking to Allen much, and dished a bit about their
past and ongoing coldness. But in 2017, Pierce said
they'd buried the hatchet, and in 2018 Allen congratulated Pierce on his jersey retirement. Then Pierce congratulated Allen
on making the Hall of Fame. - [Pierce] Congratulations. Everything he's gotten he's deserved. His name is going to be up there forever and I congratulate you Ray. - Garnett and Allen still weren't talking as recently as 2018, although some took this Garnett tweet on the day of Allen's
Hall of Fame induction as a piece offering. And then there's Rondo. When Allen announced
his retirement in 2016 with a letter to his younger
self on the Players' Tribune, reporters asked Rondo,
a Bull by this point, what he thought. His response? "Ray who? "I thought he'd been retired. "But he had a hell of a career." To be fair, Allen hadn't played in like
two years at that point. I don't think Rondo was alone in thinking he'd already bailed. In 2017, which the championship
anniversary approaching, Rondo started rounding
up his former teammates for a reunion trip. Allen he said, wouldn't be invited. Rondo claimed the other
Celtics had said no, and reminded the world that
Allen had gone to the enemy. A couple months later
on Garnett's TV show, a bunch of the 08 Celtics spoke thoughtfully
about Allen's departure. After six minutes of Garnett, Pierce, Kendrick Perkins, and Glen Davis expressing their feelings, everyone realized the
fifth guy in the room hadn't said a word. And he wasn't going to. - [Davis] I'm gonna speak for Rondo. - What's all right, I'm good. - Bro, I'm just playing. - Allen, who had this as his default responded on Facebook with a photo of himself battling Rondo. In January 2018, some hope. Asked again who would be
invited to the reunion, Rondo said everybody. Everybody? Yes, Everybody. But, in March of 2018, this came out. This is Ray Allen's autobiography. I have referenced it several
times in this history. Publications slap that burger
right back on the griddle. The book presents Allen's version of all the things I've mentioned, with additional stuff like Ray saying Doc Rivers called off a trade that would have sent Rondo
to the New Orleans Hornets for Chris Paul because Doc quote couldn't do that to
his friend Monty Williams. Like couldn't saddle
him with Rondo problems. The book does not make Rondo look good. And when Rajon caught wind
of that, he responded. He suggested Allen must be hurting financially or mentally, and that he just wanted attention. Rondo said he wanted to
talk to Allen man-to-man, and suggested the continued animus was a result of the Celtics not wanting Allen in the reunion. So, yeah. Even if an invite did
go out at some point, I don't think any reunion included Ray. And Allen's interviews promoting the book only went into greater
detail about the beef, and about the idea of
Rondo not passing to him. Later in 2018, Allen was
asked if he'd spoken to Garnett, Rondo, or Glen Davis and simply said, "Nope," and that he didn't expect to. We'll see. Surely, there will be more ceremonies, more inductions, more anniversaries, and maybe more reunions. Perhaps events like those can help mend Allen's relationships with the other Celtics the way they helped him reconnect with Pierce. And yeah, the bridge
between Allen and Rondo might be the toughest one to rebuild. They were once so close, but drifted as Rondo
developed into a star. While Allen and Rondo
never clashed on the court, their seemingly intertwined fates, the way Rondo's issues seemed to compromise Allen's control, caused friction off the court. And after Allen asserted
control in provocative ways, that relationship seemed doomed. But no matter what else, these guys have one very important, very positive thing in common. And maybe someday that golden link will prevail over all
the beef surrounding it. (dramatic orchestral music)
