As the wife of Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union got to see a lot of the inner-workings of the NBA, as well as some of the rivalries that went on. When LeBron James and Chris Bosh teamed up with Wade in Miami, the Heat were known as the Big 3, and their most obvious rivals were the Boston Celtics who had Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo. For years, there has been a lot of trash talk between these parties, especially as it pertains to Kevin Garnett, who still hasn’t forgiven Allen for joining the Heat.
While making an appearance on the Old Man & The Three podcast with JJ Redick, Union got to speak at length about the Heat and Celtics rivalry, where she did not hold back. As she explains in the interview, the Celtics had a superteam first, and that it didn’t help them in the long run, as their fans and cheerleaders didn’t even care about the team towards the end.
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“I was here for all of that s—,” Union said per Heat Nation. “But I was also here for when KG (Garnett) and Paul and [Rajon] Rondo and Ray [Allen] all came together, even though they don’t want to admit it that they kicked that b—- off. There’s been superteams before. They just didn’t, they didn’t have, it wasn’t in this era with this platform and with social media and sports talk radio 24/7. It’s different, and how you look at it, it’s different. And the whole, ‘Built, not bought,’ whatever. Boring is what it says to me. Okay, you built it. Did anyone come? No, your fans are leaving at f—— halftime. Cheerleaders can’t be bothered.”
Union’s comments might not ring true for most NBA fans as the Heat were notorious for having fans who showed up late, left early, and couldn’t be bothered to support the team. Meanwhile, Celtics fans are pretty hardcore about their team, for better or for worse.
Regardless, the Heat vs Celtics animosity still runs deep, to this day.
[Via]