It's been over a decade since Ray Allen betrayed the Boston Celtics. Time heals all wounds, as they say, so over 14 years later, it makes sense that many in Boston (not everyone) have let go of him leaving the Celtics to go join LeBron James in Miami.
It's helped that Kevin Garnett publicly supported Ray at the former's retirement ceremony four and a half years ago and that Allen was in attendance when the Celtics won Banner 18 at home. However, now we're seeing the Celtics go out of their way to shout him out like they did last night in their home opener victory over New York.
The Celtics acknowledged Allen and Paul Pierce's presence, which was met with resounding applause (maybe if it was just Allen, there would have been more scattered boos). Even better is that, as Jayson Tatum was putting away the Knicks in crunch time, there was a moment when, after hitting a tough bucket, he pointed at someone courtside.
That certain someone happened to be Allen. Even cooler is that the Celtics themselves shared an image of Tatum and Allen acknowledging each other on social media. From this, it's clear that there's no more animosity between the two sides.
Allen has made genuine efforts to win Boston over again
It's not like this wave of forgiveness was all simply handed to Allen because it definitely wasn't. Pierce was among the first to publicly let everyone know back in 2017 that he had let go of what Allen had done, before Garnett more or less confirmed the same five years later.
It's easy to forget this, but Allen himself said he would have come off his hiatus from the NBA to rejoin the Celtics had they won the Kevin Durant sweepstakes in 2016. If he had, and say Boston had won Banner 18 because of both Durant and Allen, would there be anyone who would still have a problem with him?
It's become clearer that Allen treasured his time in Boston. Even better is that it's clear that he hasn't shown that same appreciation for Miami. Then again, it's not like he has ground to make up in that department.
There are some in Boston who will never forgive Allen for what went down back in 2012, and that's fair, knowing what happened next. However, the Celtics have clearly let his desertion go and focus more on the undeniable legacy he built in Boston. Not everyone's going to agree with that, but it's clear neither Allen nor the Celtics themselves care.
Add us as a preferred source on Google