Ray Allen is about to step back into a familiar Celtics spotlight.
According to Gary Washburn, Allen will join Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett as presenters for Doc Rivers at his Basketball Hall of Fame induction on Aug. 15. It brings the old Big 3 back together for a night that nods straight at one of the defining eras in Boston history.
Ray Allen just confirmed today and will join Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett as being presenters for Doc Rivers in his Hall of Fame induction on Aug. 15.
The Big Three returns. #Celtics #HoopHall2026
- gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) August 3, 2026
For Celtics fans, Allen’s presence keeps adding another layer to a complicated story. His exit in 2012 still hangs over his Boston legacy, but he has made a point of showing up for important Celtics moments in the years since. He attended Kevin Garnett’s jersey retirement in 2022, and he was also in Boston when the Celtics clinched Banner 18 two years ago.
That doesn’t erase the departure, or the book that came after it, but it does reinforce something that’s been clear for a while: Allen still values what his years in Boston meant.
There’s also the forgotten twist in all of this. A decade ago, Allen admitted he might have returned to the Celtics if Boston had landed Kevin Durant. The team was in the hunt for Durant at the time, and Allen said a successful push would have opened the door to one more run in green.
Boston didn’t win that sweepstakes, though it came close. If Golden State had landed Durant in 2016, Allen might have ended up back in Boston as a designated sharpshooter, giving the Celtics one more layer of offense and maybe changing the shape of everything that followed.
There’s no way to know how that would have played out. But if Allen had been part of a Celtics title run, his place in franchise history would look very different. A championship return could have changed the conversation around his legacy, and maybe even put No. 20 in the rafters alongside Garnett and Pierce.
As it stands, Allen still doesn’t have a jersey retirement ceremony, despite Garnett’s pleas. But his return to the Celtics orbit for Rivers’ Hall of Fame induction says plenty on its own. However messy the split was, Allen has kept circling back to the era that defined him in Boston.
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