Looks like beef has been officially canceled in Boston.
Celtics great Kevin Garnett retired his jersey at TD Garden on Sunday. During the ceremony, he called out to former teammate Ray Allen, who was sitting in the stands.
“It’s nice to see Ray Allen here, real shit,” Garnett said.
Allen then got up from his seat to hug Garnett in center court. Former teammate Paul Pierce hugged everyone to cheering from Celtics fans.
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Allen, Garnett and Pierce played five seasons together in Boston as the backbone of a team that won the first and only NBA championship in 2008 since Larry Bird. Allen left the team in 2012 to join LeBron James and his rival Miami Heat, rekindling years of resentment against his former teammates.
Garnett said after Allen’s move that he had lost Allen’s phone number. He was not interested in welcoming Allen during the Heat’s first game since Allen’s 2012 move.
Tensions persisted for years, and Allen missed Pierce’s 2018 retirement due to continued anxiety. Pierce said in 2017 that he was more upset that Allen did not warn his Celtics teammates than that he left. He said he hadn’t spoken to Allen in years.
Tensions seemed to ease during the All-Star weekend in Cleveland, when all three were honored as members of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. The three were seen smiling together in a photo from the reunion celebration that apparently thwarted a public display on Sunday in Boston.
There was no Rajon Rondo at the Sunday celebrations. He can certainly be forgiven as he is due to play on Monday with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen smiled together on Sunday. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)