Let me be clear, I do not like the Heat. I despise Pat Riley, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and really the whole city of Miami as a result of my dislike for the Heat.
However, I cannot bring myself to despise Ray Allen for his decision tonight. He has always been a class-act, and tonight does not change that. While it is true that his legacy in Boston has been tarnished by signing with the Heat, his legacy in general remains intact.
The difference in money was negligible between the extra year of security and the lack of a state tax in Florida.
How was the difference in money negligible? We offered him double.
Further, this would mark the first time in history that a player would be judged for not chasing the money.
Sorry, but
Edited. Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. are you talking about? LeBron left money on the table, and certainly was judged for it. Nash is going to the Lakers for less than the Raptors would have paid him, and people are certainly judging him. Whoever said leaving money on the table exempts you from criticism?
As it stands, Ray is likely financially secure, but the extra year makes both deals comparable.
Only if you are assuming he will absolutely suck in the third year. If he plays here for 2 years and $12 million, he still has the right to sign another contract after those 2 years, you know. It's not like we offered him 2 years at $6 million each, followed by 1 year at zero dollars. It was 2 years, plus whatever he could get the third year.
Lost in all of the anger of tonight is that Ray went to the team that gives him the best chance at winning.
No, I really don't think that is lost at all. I think that is absolutely the point.
If he went to the Clippers, I wouldn't be so baffled. Or Memphis. Or, if the Heat had lost to OKC, and then he went to the Heat. Or, if DWade was retiring. But none of that happened.
Instead, he's just grabbing on to the coattails of the guys
who already won the championship without him. It actually makes no sense.
I wish Ray all the best going forward with his career and life, with one major caveat: I hope he never wins another title. Instead, I hope Boston eliminates Miami each of the next three years, not because Ray is there, but because I am a Celtics fan. Outside of not winning a title or ever beating the Celtics, I wish him the very best in the next chapter of his hall of fame career.
I wish him well also, but he's definitely burned his bridges. He had a chance to have #20 hanging from the rafters some day, and that's gone. And I think history will absolutely judge him for trying to ride LeBron's coattails. If he could have gone to the Clippers or Grizzlies or anyone else, and been the guy to put them over the top, that would have been a great accomplishment. Miami is a no-win situation. They can win the title without him. If they win, why would he get credit? If they lose, he dragged them down.
And his very presence is going to force them to play a style which will not always suit them. You can go three-guards against some teams, but they're going to feel compelled to do it too often.
For a guy who said he wanted to start and finish games, going to the team where he's clearly inferior to a guy who plays the same position from him is just dumb. But obviously he didn't feel confident enough in his ability to go try to win a title with another team.
