Boston Celtics legend, Paul Pierce appeared on the latest of All The Smoke with Matt Barnes And Stephen Jackson. While there he dished on his beef with former teammate Ray Allen.
“This is my whole deal with Ray and the reason I had a problem with him,” said Pierce. “One, he went to our rival. LeBron James was a rival of the Celtics, regardless if he was in Cleveland or Miami…
“Two, I was calling him when [the Celtics] were in the middle of contract negotiations before he left. He’s not answering anybody’s calls and I’m hearing he’s going to Miami.”
While with the Boston Celtics, Allen along with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce formed the “Big Three”. Their success was immediate.
In 2008 they won an NBA championship. He remained with the franchise for five seasons, before departing in free agency to join the Miami Heat for two seasons.
“He’s not returning my call. I just feel like as a certain respect as a teammate, as a brother, we can have this conversation. If you’re not wanting to play with us no more, at least let us know …
“I felt that was a slap in the face or disrespect from a brother. So that was my whole beef with him, and other guys felt the same way.
However, Pierce and Ray have since resolved the issue.
“Since then, me and him have talked … I don’t have no problem with Ray today.”
Pierce also discusses growing up in Inglewood, Calif. as a Lakers fan. The former star of college powerhouse Kansas Jayhawks talks about his respectful relationship with Kobe Bryant.
“I played mad against everybody, but him – we always just had a different type of relationship. I think it was more out of respect too. Everybody else, I pretty much couldn’t care less about. It seemed that way, off the court. Just to have the opportunity to match up with him, know him on-and-off the court was special. It made me who I am, pretty much.”
Pierce also reflects on the time he was brutally stabbed at a nightclub in Boston and the effect it had on his life.
“That night changed my life man. I remember being at the hospital, banging on the hospital door, asking them [if he was going to die] …. It really changed my life for me to get through that. I got stabbed three times in the stomach and five times in the back by two different knives.
“It was so bad that I couldn’t even sleep. I would wake up in the middle of the night. This is a story people a lot of don’t even know. I had to have 24-hour police surveillance at my house that’s how paranoid I was. All I did was go to the gym and home for like a good two-year stretch. It changes you, dude. You don’t know where to go, you don’t know who to look at, you’re really on your toes.”
The current NBA analyst has had an amazing journey and he reflects heavily on it all.
