Ray Allen on Relationship with Celtics Teammates: 'We Were Always Brothers'

Ray Allen harbors no ill feelings toward his former Boston Celtics teammates after their relationship took a turn when he left the team following the 2011-12 season.   

In an interview with Complex's Russ Bengtson, Allen said they "were always brothers" during his five-year run with the Celtics:

"So much speculation has been made over the relationship, but we were always brothers, we won together, that's pretty much how it's always been for me," he said. "Obviously when I left to Miami, things went sour. And things were difficult my last year in Boston in the locker room, but I don't know how or why it started."

The relationship between Allen and former Celtics teammates Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo was chilly when he left them to sign with the Miami Heat. 

When Rondo was organizing a celebration last year for the 10-year anniversary of the Celtics' 2007-08 championship season, he said some members of the team didn't want Allen to be involved. 

"I asked a couple of the guys. I got a no, a no head shake," Rondo told The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears. "... It just wasn't the greatest separation. It wasn't the greatest thing that could've happened to us as a team, a bond. We were at war with those guys [Miami]. To go with the enemy, that's unheard-of in sports."

When the Celtics retired Pierce's No. 34 jersey during a Feb. 11 game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Allen told Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports he wasn't invited to the ceremony. 

Allen spent five seasons with the Celtics from 2007-12 and helped the franchise win a championship in his first season and advance to the NBA Finals in 2010.