Paul Pierce: Ray Allen Had 'Weird Relationship' With Celtics Teammates

Nobody can ever accuse Paul Pierce of being afraid to speak his mind.

In a lengthy interview with ESPN.com’s Jackie MacMullan published Tuesday, the Washington Wizards forward took aim at everyone, from Deron Williams to John Wall to every Eastern Conference team not named the Cleveland Cavaliers. Pierce held nothing back.

Perhaps the most interesting information gleaned from the sit-down, though, regarded Pierce’s relationship with former Celtics teammate and Big Three cornerstone Ray Allen — one that apparently was not as rosy as Boston fans were led to believe.

From MacMullan:

“It was a weird relationship,” Pierce said. “We were all good friends on the court, but Ray always did his own thing. That’s just the way Ray was. Even when we were playing together, we’d be having a team dinner and Ray wouldn’t show up. We’d go to his charity events, but Ray wouldn’t show up to somebody else’s.

“I called him on it. I said, ‘Man, Ray, we support all your stuff, but when we ask you, you don’t come to ours.’ I remember when (point guard Rajon) Rondo re-signed with Boston, we had a little dinner at a restaurant and Ray didn’t show up.

“I know Ray probably didn’t like Rondo that much, but it wasn’t a fact of not liking somebody. You don’t have to like everybody you play with — it’s a matter of showing support.

“Rondo probably didn’t like Ray either, but he came to Ray’s functions to show, ‘Hey, we’re together in this.’

“It’s not a bad thing with Ray. We had a great relationship on the court. But even the year we won it, after a game we’d say, ‘Let’s go have something to eat and have a night with the older guys.’ We’d get there and it would be me, Kevin and Sam (Cassell), but no Ray. In a lot of ways, me, Sam and Kevin were our Big Three.

“It just got to the point where it was, ‘That’s Ray.’ No hard feelings. Everyone made such a big deal of us not talking after we left, but there really wasn’t much there.”