Ray Allen’s Unhappy Return to Seattle

by Marcel Mutoni

You would think that a man who went from one of the worst teams to what is now the most dominant team in the League would be happy. You would think that a guy who has a legitimate shot at playing for the ‘chip that has eluded him his entire career would be beaming.

You would be wrong.

Ray Allen, as he makes his first visit to Seattle tomorrow night since getting traded this past summer, is still holding on to bitter feelings about the way Sonics management ended his career in that rain-soaked town.

“I thought they totally blew it by trading me,” Allen said before the Celtics’ 89-69 win over the Sacramento Kings. “And Rashard definitely wasn’t thinking about coming back once that happened.

“Rashard and myself, we were at the point of our careers where we wanted to win,” he said. “I think maybe they underestimated our ability to adapt. For Durant to come in, if he led the team in scoring, so be it. It wouldn’t have fazed me or Rashard.”

I’ve always admired Ray, not just for his spectacular ability on the court, but for the way he conducts and expresses himself. And even though he goes on to acknowledge that the Sonics did, in fact, do him the biggest favor of his career by trading him to Beantown, one can’t help but feel as though the guy is crying over spilled milk.