Ray Allen Thanks Celtics Fans With Boston Globe Ad

Posted by Hayes Davenport on Jul 15, 2012 3133016 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2012%2F07%2F15%2Fray-allen-thanks-celtics-fans-with-boston-globe-ad%2FRay+Allen+Thanks+Celtics+Fans+With+Boston+Globe+Ad2012-07-15+18%3A14%3A26Hayes+Davenporthttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D31330

Ray Allen delivers a classy gesture today by taking out an ad in Sunday’s Boston Globe to thank the Boston fans for their support in Boston. Full image of that ad after the jump. That move however was not the only news concerning Allen that came out in the last 24 hours, as Danny Ainge addressed the shooting guard’s departure for the first time yesterday in Waltham. Here are a few of Ainge’s calculated remarks on Ray with the assist to ESPNBoston:

Ainge on Allen’s choice of leaving: “I don’t feel like we lost Ray, I feel like Ray left us to go to Miami,” said Ainge. “We appreciate all that Ray’s done and all him and (his wife) Shannon have done in our community. We tried to get Ray back, he chose to go to Miami.”

Ainge on whether Allen left because of a lesser role with C’s: “You’d have to ask Ray the decisions why. I talked with Ray a lot over the last five years, I’m a fan of Ray and, like I said, I’m grateful for what he’s done. He’ll always be part of that 2008 championship and the success we’ve had since then as well. But, I have a feeling that it wasn’t one thing. I think it was an accumulation of lots of things, including the lure of Miami. I’ll just leave it at that.”

Ainge on moving on: ”No one player makes the team. Players chose not to come here all the time. There’s 30 good basketball teams out there and it’s a very competitive league. There’s other teams outside of Boston and we knew that Ray had this option and this opportunity and he chose to go that direction.”

In another interesting twist on Ray, the Miami Herald is reporting that Allen has a player opt-out in his contract after next season, giving him the flexibility to leave the Heat if the reason arises. Probably a non-factor from the C’s perspective, but another interesting twist in this whole whirlwind of a story in the past couple weeks.

Heat fans should appreciate Ray Allen next season, because there’s no assurance he will be here beyond that. Two sources with direct knowledge tell us that Allen’s two-year deal with the Heat includes a $3.2 million player option for 2013-14. So if Allen wants to become a free agent again next July, he can. So can Rashard Lewis, due $1.4 million in 2013-14.