From a basketball perspective, I honestly don’t think it’s that big a deal. The Celtics were 17-5 without him in the lineup last year, and at this point in Ray’s career I feel as if Jason Terry can pretty much fill the same role off the bench as him anyway. And as far as Miami goes, they already had a bunch of three-point shooters on their bench (Mike Miller, Shane Battier, James Jones), so I’m not convinced Ray really brings them anything they need.
But it eats me up inside that he would pick the Heat. It bothered me when Eddie House chose to go there after leaving the Celtics, and Ray doing it is obviously even worse. And here’s what I really can’t comprehend: as a competitive athlete, how can you play your heart out against a team that has become your biggest rival, lose to them in 7 games on the verge of a championship, then decide to join them a few weeks later. It blows my mind. Not only should Ray have a severe dislike of everything about Miami, he should also be craving the opportunity to get another chance to beat them.
Mama Flo can’t be happy about this at all either. She loves it here, and she’s going to need some all new bedazzled shirts. And I’m going to miss sitting behind her after all these years. Maybe I can get her tickets…
Check out my blog “37 seconds of sports and other stuff i care about” at lucidsportsfan.com, and follow me on twitter @LucidSportsFan.
About Mark Vandeusen