Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and More Talk Ray Allen's Celtics Departure

It's not exactly a secret Ray Allen's former teammates on the Boston Celtics don't view him in the same light after he signed with the Miami Heat.

During TNT's broadcast of the NBA playoffs Monday night (via KG's Area 21), Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Glen Davis and Kendrick Perkins discussed how they felt about Allen's move to Miami:

When Allen joined the Heat ahead of the 2012-13 season, the Celtics were coming off an Eastern Conference Finals loss to Miami the year before. In an interview with The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears in March, Rajon Rondo talked about the perceived importance of Allen defecting for one of Boston's top conference rivals:

"We were at war with those guys [Miami]. To go with the enemy, that's unheard-of in sports. Well, it's not so unheard of. It's damn near common now. The mindset we had. The guys on our team. You wouldn't do anything like that. It makes you question that series in the Finals ... Who were you for? You didn't bleed green."

Spears reported Rondo had planned a reunion of the 2008 Celtics team that won an NBA championship. Allen wouldn't be among those in attendance since he had yet to receive an invitation.

Any hostility toward Allen immediately after his departure would be understandable. As The Vertical's Michael Lee argued, continuing to be angry at Allen five years later is a bad look:

Not to mention, Garnett and Pierce left Boston a year after Allen in order to try to turn the Brooklyn Nets into a title contender. Pierce then spent his final two years in the NBA chasing a ring with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Allen helped the Heat win a title in 2012-13, with his three-pointer in Game 6 against the San Antonio Spurs one of the biggest playoff shots in recent memory:

Looking back, it's hard to see how Allen made the wrong decision, even if it alienated his former teammates in Boston.

As more time passes, perhaps Pierce, Garnett, Rondo and others can let bygones be bygones and celebrate what was a wildly successful five-year stretch for the Celtics.