Kendrick Perkins has finally revealed why his former teammates with the Boston Celtics have not been on good terms despite winning a championship together.
Perkins told SiriusXM NBA Radio on Thursday that Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen boxed it out for two rounds in order to settle their issues.
The Celtics made Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo box for two rounds😂😂pic.twitter.com/JeZt13fnja
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) May 22, 2020
During the 2008-09 season, the Celtics were reportedly mulling over the possibility of trading away Rondo for Chris Paul, who was then playing for the New Orleans Hornets.
Despite Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett’s objections, Allen was purportedly agreeable to the Celtics brass pulling the trigger on the deal. This did not sit well Rondo, and his relationship with Allen soured from that point forward to the extent that the two players needed to fight it out.
“Rondo ended up finding out about it and that was it from there,” Perkins told SiriusXM NBA Radio. “It was even to the point where we brought boxing gloves to the gym and they got on boxing gloves, Ray and Rondo, like they put on the gloves. We made them box it out for about two rounds.”
The incident may have been the reason why Allen left the Celtics to play with LeBron James and the Miami Heat in 2012. As a result of his decision to play for Boston’s chief nemesis at the time, Allen elicited the ire of Pierce and Garnett as well.
Now with the Los Angeles Lakers, Rondo has since become a trusted teammate of James, but it is likely that he continues to hold a grudge against the retired Allen to this day.
