Davis and the Celtics returned to the NBA Finals in 2010 but lost to the Lakers in seven games. The changing of the guard began after that Finals loss.
On Feb. 24, 2011, the Celtics traded starting center Kendrick Perkins and guard Nate Robinson to the Oklahoma City Thunder for forward Jeff Green and center Nenad Krstic. Ray Allen next caused a huge stir by turning down an offer to re-sign with Boston so he could join LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the NBA champion Miami Heat during the summer of 2012. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and point guard Rajon Rondo were upset that Allen did not tell them himself that he was departing for the rival Heat, creating a rift that exists to this day.
Allen won a championship with Miami in 2013, while Pierce, Garnett and Rondo never got back to the Finals with Boston before eventually being traded. Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Rondo, Perkins and Davis engaged in a discussion last May about why they haven’t reconciled with Allen during one of Garnett’s “Area 21” Turner Sports television segments. Rondo also told The Undefeated last season that his old Celtics teammates planned on having an overseas trip celebrating the 2008 NBA title, but that Allen was not invited.
The coldness toward Allen, however, began to thaw with Pierce’s recent Instagram post saying they need to “get the band back together.” Looking back, Davis understands why Allen departed in 2012.
“My whole take on it is, hey, we know when we lost in 2010 that things were different,” Davis said. “It mentally changed our team, and it started to break from there. We saw it. ‘Perk’ got traded, and then things really got different. Ray just sensed before everyone else that it was over with and things were changing.
“People knowing Ray and how he is and how awesome he is expected him to be the guy to say, ‘Hey, I’m leaving,’ instead of leaving [without warning]. That is how it basically is. Ray saw the signs on the wall and just got out of there before everyone else did.”