Ray Allen Says Rajon Rondo Told Celtics He 'Carried' Team to 2008 Title
In his new autobiography, Ray Allen says Rajon Rondo told the Boston Celtics he "carried" them to their 2008 NBA title.
“I carried all of you to the championship in 2008," Allen writes Rondo said, per an excerpt provided to Sean Deveney of Sporting News.
“The rest of the team, almost in unison, responded, ‘You what?’ Rondo said everyone on the team had problems with him, and when [I] told him, 'None of us had issues with you,' Rondo said to [me], 'You did, too. You told me I was the reason we were going to be traded,'" Allen recounts.
Allen writes he told Rondo in 2009 that the Celtics front office was considering trading the two guards to the Phoenix Suns for a package that included Amar'e Stoudemire. The move, according to Allen, was being considered because the Celtics had issues with Rondo's attitude.
Allen describes his relationship with Rondo as one that began well before souring quickly—to the point the point guard would not pass him the ball during the 2011-12 season. Their tensions culminated in April 2012, when Rondo accused Allen of being jealous of him in a locker-room argument.
"I'm going to get your ass out of here this summer," Allen wrote Rondo told him.
Rondo was in just his second season in the 2007-08 season and was seen as something of a question mark for much of the Celtics' playoff run. Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were the core Big Three, while Rondo and center Kendrick Perkins were the talented but unproven young players.
