I speak for everyone when I say we all hope that Ray Allen will sign with the Seattle during the offseason and retire a Supersonic.
No not really. Ray played a lot more games on the Bucks, but I think people still might remember him as a Celtic, but that's where he played the most playoff games.
KG will be remembered as the greatest Sota player ever. Even in 08 he was only a shadow of his former self. Guy was dominant in Sota.
I've said it before, but in general... "years from now", Celtic fans will still have a certain fondness for KG, Ray and Paul, but ultimately revisionist history will look at this Celtic team as nothing more than a footnote in Kobe Bryant's story. Kinda a "blip" in the post Duncan/Shaq years... between Kobe's first three titles and his ultimate journey of proving he could do it "alone" (Gasol gets shafted in revisionist history too)... Having already won 3 titles, he faces off against the Celtics in 08. We humble him. He comes back stronger the next year and wins a title. Only thing left was to get payback on the Celtics... and in 2010 he does that. Years from now when you look at this time period on ESPN Classic, our big 3 are antagonists in Kobe's trilogy (and he's not even done).
Don't kill the messenger. If KG doesn't get injured in 09, the storyline changes, but it is what it is. History will look at us as a poor man's 80s Pistons... except that the Isiah/Chuck Daily Pistons were relevant for 9 straight seasons, beat down Jordan for years, won two titles and made the finals 3 straight seasons. The "Big 3" Celtics were slapped together late in their careers, were relevant for three seasons (3.5 if you count last season), beat down Kobe one year, won 1 title and made the finals twice in 3 years. Maybe comparing them to the 80s Pistons is too generous. Maybe I should be comparing them to the Rasheed/Billups Pistons, but even that team has a thicker resume. 7 years of relevance, one championship, 2 finals appearances, another 4 years in the ECF.
If you're looking at a purely Boston Celtic retrospective in the year 2050, you look at the 3.5 years this team was relevant and rank it well below the 60s Russell Celtics, well below the 80s Bird Celtics, well below the 70s Cowens Celtics... and hopefully below whatever iteration of the post-"big 3" Celtics come after this.