Pierce opens up about Ray Allen beef: 'It did feel like a betrayal'

Ray Allen's decision to leave the Boston Celtics for the rival Miami Heat in the summer of 2012 wasn't received well by his former teammates - most notably Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who gave him the cold shoulder for years after his departure.

Pierce shared his perspective on the feud Thursday during an appearance on "The Dan Le Batard Show," admitting he felt betrayed by the way Allen left.

"That's almost like your girl going to your best friend, you know what I'm saying? That ain't cool, that wasn't cool," Pierce said. "At least give me a proper break-off ... it did feel like a betrayal, and so that's why, for a lot of years, we didn't talk to Ray, or we didn't address him.

"It was tension. It was tension every time we played him because I just felt like, if you brothers, you're supposed to acknowledge one another whether you like to or not. And be like, 'Look, I ain't feeling what happened with the team. I ain't feeling what's happening with management, they not giving me my money, I'm not starting no more.' Whatever it is, the bond that we created in the locker room, on and off the court, that's something you can talk to us about. Whatever you got with the management and the ownership and Danny Ainge and Doc (Rivers), that's between y'all. But with your brothers, who you're in the locker with every day, we deserve better than that."

Pierce added that he understands how cold the business can be, but he was still hurt that he didn't receive a proper goodbye from Allen.

"The stuff that we went through, you gotta give me a goodbye. Give me a hug or a dap or something," he said. "I know how cold the business is - yeah, you can leave a free agent, but it's just certain respect levels that you have amongst players like me, Ray, and Kevin."

Pierce and Garnett have since squashed their beef with Allen, reuniting with him in 2022 for Garnett's jersey retirement ceremony with the Celtics.