Ray Allen's message in the Boston Globe

[Interceptor]

Folks should just give up trying to pretend they intimately know what goes on in the heads of professional athletes.

Who is pretending to be Miss Cleo? This is very clearly a reaction to the yawning gap between 1) what Ray Allen has said, and 2) what he actually did. Given multiple opportunities to explain himself, he's delivered a mealymouthed load of nothing. Not a single teammate or member of the organization has stepped forward to defend him, or say anything but the blatantly obvious (he's a free agent!).

I can imagine a dozen legitimate reasons (and none of them would have anything to do with 'screwing' Boston) why Ray might have chosen to go to Miami.  I don't know any of them to be true or false.  So I just let it go.  Ray had his reasons.  Big deal

This vastly overstates the case. The apologists for Scumbag Ray Allen are in a more precarious position every time that 24 hours pass, and we find out something ELSE that casts his decision in a worse light. This cycle's fun trivia: his contract with Miami is actually only 2y with a PO, which makes it worse than the Celtics offer in every respect, rather than just MOST respects.

At some point, are people going to have to settle for arguing that maybe he was kidnapped by aliens and replaced with an imperfect clone? We're very nearly at "UFO sighting" levels of believability as it is.

[kozlodoev]

This cycle's fun trivia: his contract with Miami is actually only 2y with a PO, which makes it worse than the Celtics offer in every respect, rather than just MOST respects.

Let's get this straight: from the point of view of the player, a 3-year contract is observationally identical to a 2-year contract with a player option.

[Interceptor]

I don't get why people like yourself now pretend you always hated him and his contributions to 5 seasons of Celtics basketball now dont count because your feelings are hurt based on his choice of new team.

What the heck are you talking about? Ray Allen was my favorite player in the NBA, bar none. I own no other jerseys except for his. This is something that I have before, am now, and will freely admit in the future. I came to his defense when people dumped on him here or elsewhere. My posting history here is a completely open book, and if you're bored, you are free to see for yourself.

I'm sorry if that blows apart your idea of the kind of person that bashes Allen, but reality ain't neat and orderly.

[crownsy]

I don't get why people like yourself now pretend you always hated him and his contributions to 5 seasons of Celtics basketball now dont count because your feelings are hurt based on his choice of new team.

What the heck are you talking about? Ray Allen was my favorite player in the NBA, bar none. I own no other jerseys except for his. This is something that I have before, am now, and will freely admit in the future. I came to his defense when people dumped on him here or elsewhere. My posting history here is a completely open book, and if you're bored, you are free to see for yourself.

I'm sorry if that blows apart your idea of the kind of person that bashes Allen, but reality ain't neat and orderly.

you quoted my 5 year contribution argument as to why ill be cheering him one time when he comes back before treating him like every other player on a rival team.

you stated that it was a defunct argument with no other explanation. If you would like to clarity why you don't think his contributions to banner 17 should be recognized by the fans upon his return with something other than "he hurt my feelings by going to the heat"

please, feel free. but that has been the sum total of your arguments these previous few weeks. I think it's a silly argument, but if that's your choice, to now hate ray allen and burn his jerseys because he chose to leave for a team you don't like, i certainly respect your right to feel that way. I don't agree with it, but i respect your choice.

[Interceptor]

Let's get this straight: from the point of view of the player, a 3-year contract is observationally identical to a 2-year contract with a player option.

True, but irrelevant to this situation, because that's not what he has. The report about Ray Allen's Miami contract is that it's two years, with Year Two as the player option. Not that it's three years, with Year Three as the PO. Ray can opt out as soon as next July if he so chooses, if the report is accurate.

[kozlodoev]

Let's get this straight: from the point of view of the player, a 3-year contract is observationally identical to a 2-year contract with a player option.

True, but irrelevant to this situation, because that's not what he has. The report about Ray Allen's Miami contract is that it's two years, with Year Two as the player option. Not that it's three years, with Year Three as the PO. Ray can opt out as soon as next July if he so chooses, if the report is accurate.

Oh, boo. My bad.

Actually, given that it's essentially a "discount-price" type of contract, that makes it slightly less horrible. But the Celtics' offer was still considerably better.

[nickagneta]

Folks should just give up trying to pretend they intimately know what goes on in the heads of professional athletes.

Who is pretending to be Miss Cleo? This is very clearly a reaction to the yawning gap between 1) what Ray Allen has said, and 2) what he actually did. Given multiple opportunities to explain himself, he's delivered a mealymouthed load of nothing. Not a single teammate or member of the organization has stepped forward to defend him, or say anything but the blatantly obvious (he's a free agent!).

I can imagine a dozen legitimate reasons (and none of them would have anything to do with 'screwing' Boston) why Ray might have chosen to go to Miami.  I don't know any of them to be true or false.  So I just let it go.  Ray had his reasons.  Big deal

This vastly overstates the case. The apologists for Scumbag Ray Allen are in a more precarious position every time that 24 hours pass, and we find out something ELSE that casts his decision in a worse light. This cycle's fun trivia: his contract with Miami is actually only 2y with a PO, which makes it worse than the Celtics offer in every respect, rather than just MOST respects.

At some point, are people going to have to settle for arguing that maybe he was kidnapped by aliens and replaced with an imperfect clone? We're very nearly at "UFO sighting" levels of believability as it is.

Please give links of the things Ray has said or what his team mates have said regarding the situation that has you all hot and bothered because quite honestly, everything you are taking as gospel truth about why Ray left I am 1000% sure is nothing more than columnist speculation with absolutely no quotes from members of the Celtics players or Ray Allen himself.

[Interceptor]

you stated that it was a defunct argument with no other explanation. If you would like to clarity why you don't think his contributions to banner 17 should be recognized by the fans upon his return with something other than "he hurt my feelings by going to the heat"

Time enough to recognize him at the 10-year anniversary (although every fan is clearly entitled to do whatever they desire). His contributions are irrelevant to his decision. If Mother Theresa kicked a dog, we wouldn't start the conversation about it by pointing out that we'd otherwise nominate her for sainthood.

please, feel free. but that has been the sum total of your arguments these previous few weeks. I think it's a silly argument, but if that's your choice, to now hate ray allen and burn his jerseys because he chose to leave for a team you don't like, i certainly respect your right to feel that way. I don't agree with it, but i respect your choice.

Well, I don't really need anyone's permission to hate on people for doing things that I think are deserving of hatred. So while this is magnanimous of you to say, I am still in the same place that I was five minutes ago.

[crownsy]

Time enough to recognize him at the 10-year anniversary (although every fan is clearly entitled to do whatever they desire). His contributions are irrelevant to his decision. If Mother Theresa kicked a dog, we wouldn't start the conversation about it by pointing out that we'd otherwise nominate her for sainthood.

If you really think applauding a guy for 60 seconds upon his return before getting back to business as usual is the equivalent of some long winded analogy comparing him to mother Teresa abusing a puppy, then i don't think we have much ground for a logical discussion. We'll just, as you said, agree to take our respective fan reactions in different directions.

 you'll boo, i'll cheer him then boo, we'll get on with life.

Well, I don't really need anyone's permission to hate on people for doing things that I think are deserving of hatred. So while this is magnanimous of you to say, I am still in the same place that I was five minutes ago.

It wasn't said to make you feel better, worse or indifferent. it was a statement of fact.

[Mencius]

... We'll just, as you said, agree to take our respective fan reactions in different directions.

 you'll boo, i'll cheer him then boo, we'll get on with life.

Best possible outcome any of us can expect.

[angryguy77]

If you're girlfriend said you were fat and lazy, then left you for this guy:



Wouldn't you be wondering what the heck just happened?


That's basically what Ray did.

[Interceptor]

Please give links of the things Ray has said or what his team mates have said regarding the situation that has you all hot and bothered because quite honestly, everything you are taking as gospel truth about why Ray left I am 1000% sure is nothing more than columnist speculation with absolutely no quotes from members of the Celtics players or Ray Allen himself.

Only Ray Allen knows why he really left. His teammates have said nothing, the organization has said little. He said himself in an interview a while back (the "multiple years" interview, which I can't easily find) that he was looking for stability and to provide for his family, or somesuch. I don't claim to speak for anyone but myself, but my beef with Allen is that his stated priorities didn't match what he did when the chips were down.

But of course, as the same half-dozen people are sure to helpfully remind me, there are innumerable perfectly valid explanations for why Ray jumped ship, and why nobody in his circle is coming to his defense. Thus, it's entirely inappropriate for me to apply Occam's, I should "move on", etc.

[Onslaught]

If you're girlfriend said you were fat and lazy, then left you for this guy:



Wouldn't you be wondering what the heck just happened?


That's basically what Ray did.

Lebron is a big guy but it's not fat.

[celts10]

I don't know why Ray took the trade rumors as personal. Besides, it's not like Ainge was trading Ray to the bottom-dwellers of the league like Charlotte or Cleveland. He would've been playing in Memphis...the 4th best team in the West.

[nickagneta]

Please give links of the things Ray has said or what his team mates have said regarding the situation that has you all hot and bothered because quite honestly, everything you are taking as gospel truth about why Ray left I am 1000% sure is nothing more than columnist speculation with absolutely no quotes from members of the Celtics players or Ray Allen himself.

Only Ray Allen knows why he really left. His teammates have said nothing, the organization has said little. He said himself in an interview a while back (the "multiple years" interview, which I can't easily find) that he was looking for stability and to provide for his family, or somesuch. I don't claim to speak for anyone but myself, but my beef with Allen is that his stated priorities didn't match what he did when the chips were down.

But of course, as the same half-dozen people are sure to helpfully remind me, there are innumerable perfectly valid explanations for why Ray jumped ship, and why nobody in his circle is coming to his defense. Thus, it's entirely inappropriate for me to apply Occam's, I should "move on", etc.

What exactly did he do when the chips were down?

Last time I checked he was hitting huge three point shots to tie games and win games for the Celtics when the chips were down.

He did EXACTLY what he said he would do. Hesaid he would sign his next contract based on his and his family's needs.

He's made $178 million in his career. Add on endorsement money and his kids' kids should never have to work a day in their lives. Money wasn't the issue.

He wanted a better quality of life for him and his family and he thought he could get that in Miami. Perhaps his inner circle isn't saying anything because they support his decision?

If you are mad because he went left and went to the Heat, that's understandable. But just that. This whole "Ray said this and did the opposite" or "Ray bad mouthed the Celtics" or any of this other stuff people are saying just isn't true and are not valid reasons to be angry with the guy.