Ray Allen believes he was unfairly treated for leaving for a better situation on South Beach

Boston Globe -
The bad thing probably for the team was that we played so long. Being able to stay healthy and still be able to contribute and play at a high level,” Allen said. “The team at some point had to decide while we’re good and the players still have worth, we’ve got to try and still do something moving forward and build for our next 10 years.

It just dawned on me, team. I just figured out this rubik's cube that is Ray Allen's post-Celtic comments.

We're being trolled.

Ray, you sneaky, sneaky, basketball Jesus. You all-time-three-point-shooting-king trickster! This is some kind of two-year long head game just in case the Celtics make it to the playoffs, isn't it? You had me going, Ray! You almost had me.

No, seriously, we're being trolled. I can't tell if this is a trolling by Ray Allen, a trolling by the NBA in general, or possibly a trolling by David Stern in his last official act as Commissioner to try to ruin the Celtics' fan base mentally while the team rebuilds. Anyway you slice it, these weekly "I Wonder How Ray is Feeling" discussions need to stop.

The entire piece that ran in The Boston Globe is worth a read and paints a great picture of a basketball player who spent the twilight of his career performing at the highest level possible. Below are the highlights and my analysis:

WHERE RAY IS RIGHT

“That’s what we deal with in sports. You see teams, once [players] retire, get traded, injuries happen. You hope to bridge the gap from one generation of players to the next but it happens”
“One thing that us as players, we have a very short-lived career and the organizations, they’ll find a way to build back to the promised land. For us, we came there and we had a great five years but it comes a time where the team decides it has to move on.”
"...that’s the thing about sports, you stay around long enough, you see people come and go.”

100% truth. Athletes come and go and when they come back to Boston, or any place they contributed, more often than not they get a wonderful tribute and a standing ovation. Ray Allen included. I was in the building last year when Ray-Ray returned for the first time and it was the most emotional I have ever seen the Celtics crowd next to Ray Allen breaking Reggie Miller's three-point shooting record or, you know, winning the NBA Title which was subsequently the first World Championship won in the Boston city limits in a few decades.

We, as fans, can all understand this. We as fans are happy to say hello to an old friend. We as fans also love to go back to cheering our team and cheer against our rivals. A rival Ray now plays for. A rival we really enjoy booing. This too is "the deal with sports."

WHERE RAY IS WRONG

“The bad thing probably for the team was that we played so long. Being able to stay healthy and still be able to contribute and play at a high level,” Allen said. “The team at some point had to decide while we’re good and the players still have worth, we’ve got to try and still do something moving forward and build for our next 10 years.”

"Hi, this is Ray Allen- I just wanted to call and make sure you haven't forgotten about me and also to make sure you're not doing better than I am right now."

Ray raises a good point. He's echoing Danny Ainge when he said that Red made a mistake not trading Bird, McHale, and Parrish when he had the chance. However, he is also contradicting himself because Ray is the only member of the Big Three+Doc that left and didn't help the team in any way.

Maybe Ray wants to be remembered fondly in New England because of all the success he achieved here. UConn. The Celtics. The three-point record. Maybe part of him wishes he didn't leave the way he did. Or maybe these are left over quotes from an interview that was bound to get readers. Maybe the internet tricked me- and now you- again.

Follow Padraic O'Connor on Twitter @padraic_oconnor