In his first lengthy and candid interview on the circumstances since Allen spurned a two-year, $12 million offer to sign with the Heat in July, Rivers told Yahoo! Sports that his decisions to relegate Allen to a sixth-man role and give point guard Rajon Rondo complete freedom with the ball and leadership were ultimately what helped lead Allen to leave Boston.
Allen, a future Hall of Fame guard, left the Celtics full of acrimony and disillusionment, ending a spectacular five-year run with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce as Boston’s Big Three. Allen signed a two-year, $6 million deal with the Heat.
“People can use all the Rondo stuff – and it was there, no doubt about that – but it was me more than Rondo,” said Rivers, who is working as an NBC analyst during the Olympics. “I’m the guy who gave Rondo the ball. I’m the guy who decided that Rondo needed to be more of the leader of the team. That doesn’t mean guys liked that – and Ray did not love that – because Rondo now had the ball all the time.
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