Playing ball against each other from AAU  to the NBA, Ray “Jesus Shuttleworth” Allen, Paul “The Truth” Pierce and Kevin” The Big Ticket” Garnett, of the world champion Boston Celtics, had one ultimate goal, to be a champion.

Allen, Pierce and Garnett all had the experience of being “The Man”, leaders of a team, handling big contracts, the fame, but not becoming champions.  Pierce and Garnett both played in a conference final, but Allen did not.  Allen seemed to always be in a situation in which his team was rebuilding.

           
      When all hope of winning a title appeared to be lost, the Celtics, in one swoop, acquired Allen and Garnett last summer.  The Celtics traded their 1^st round pick to the Seattle Supersonics and some players for Allen.  With that transaction, Garnett approved the trade to the Celtic because he recognized that the organization was tying to win now and he dearly wanted to play with Allen and Pierce.  At first, Garnett refused to be traded there.

            
     Allen, Pierce and Garnett fused a strong bond oversea during the pre-season.  The bond carried the Celtics to the NBA’s best turnaround season record (42), the most post-season home wins in a season (13) and adding the 17^th title in Celtics’ history by winning this season’s championship.

            
     Allen, Pierce and Garnett are truly “The Big 3” now that they won a title, but where do they go from here?  They will place their names deeper into the NBA’s history books.  Allen, Pierce and Garnett did not need a title to vindicate them, but it will help their legacy and shorten their journey to the Hall of Fame.  

           
     The hard part is over for Allen, Pierce and Garnett and now it’s all about satisfying their hunger for winning more titles. It is possible for them to accomplish that goal because Allen, Pierce and Garnett have the right formula.  Allen is the trigger-man, shooter, Pierce is the slasher, penetrator and Garnett is what you need him to be.  Most importantly, Allen, Pierce and Garnett are unselfish and have a great supporting cast around them.  Allen, Pierce and Garnett experienced the ups and downs this season, the winning streaks, the losing streaks, criticism, doubt, praise, confidence and the title.  It is good to see the good guys finish in first place and Allen, Pierce and Garnett have the formula to be back.

Written By Barry Barnes