Ray It Ain't So

And just like that, it’s over.

Although you knew it was coming, it still came out of nowhere.

Nothing could prepare the most protective Celtics fan for it.

The Big Three Version 2.0 is officially over.

Ray Allen is taking his talents to South Beach in joining the reigning NBA champions.

But nothing about it makes sense.

I would understand if there were financial reasons but the Celtics were offering twice as much.

It’s not as if the Celtics are in a rebuilding phase or just playoff contention. The Celtics were reloading for another run with the same aging team that everyone discredited during the season.

Do not tell me that Allen fell out of favour in Boston and had no other choice but to leave for somewhere he felt more appreciated.

You mean to say that Pierce and Garnett, two of the most hard headed players in the NBA could find a middle ground with the stubborn Rondo but Allen, labelled as the most diplomatic of people, could not?

Moreover, Danny Ainge who shops the NBA like he’s a real housewife of Beverly Hills offered Allen a no trade clause in his contract negotiations.

Does Allen really not expect to enter a Miami locker room full of even larger egos that form part of the self-proclaimed “Heatles”?

In the end what makes it difficult is in how it feels like Ray “Jesus” Allen made it a point to get back at the Celtics - the same organisation that traded half of its roster to gamble on brining the Big 3 together and win the NBA title that Allen had yearned for.

The same organisation that retained the Big 3 past its so-called “use-by date” despite all the criticism of being too old.

Maybe it’s all just a Boston bias on my part.

Perhaps what cuts deepest isn’t that Allen left but rather a symbolic concession of the end of the Celtics championship run.