Rivalries and beef is very common when it comes to the hardwood. But these do not necessarily mean they should be between players of different teams. And well, we all know that winning a championship is tough enough, but doing it while dealing with a major locker-room rivalry? That’s just the next level. Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo made it work for five years with the Boston Celtics, but their relationship was anything but friendly. Their issues mostly stayed behind closed doors—until a certain incident, when Paul Pierce unknowingly cracked it wide open.

Tony Allen, a former Celtics teammate, recently took a trip down memory lane on Run it Back, sharing an unexpected yet hilarious story from his time with the team. With Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Ray Allen all under one roof, tensions were bound to brew. But who would’ve thought that breakfast would play a part in bringing them to the surface?

As Tony recalled, Pierce had a particular morning ritual—one that no one dared disrupt. “Paul Pierce used to come into the—you know, into the practice court, and he used to see guys in the… in there where the waffles and stuff get made…” Tony recounted, hinting at something oddly specific.

Apparently, the Celtics legend was serious about his waffles. So serious, in fact, that he issued a warning: “‘I catch somebody in here eating waffles before me again, we scrap them.'” At first, it might’ve sounded like a joke. But Pierce wasn’t bluffing. He actually showed up with gloves, ready to settle any lingering team tensions—right then and there.

“He was like, ‘if anybody got any secret smoke, we letting it out right now,'” Tony revealed on Run it Back. And just like that, teammates started calling each other out. That’s when it all came to a head—Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo locked eyes, and before anyone knew it, they were throwing hands.

Rondo has since claimed that he and Allen had no real issues after going their separate ways. But that narrative didn’t last long. When Allen released his book, From the Outside: My Journey Through Life and the Game I Love, in 2018, old wounds reopened. The book detailed his past problems with Rondo and even claimed he wanted Chris Paul over him. Even worse, Allen revealed that Rondo once told him, Garnett, and Pierce, that he carried them to the 2008 NBA Finals.

Unsurprisingly, Rondo wasn’t thrilled. He pushed back hard, wondering why these stories were suddenly coming out years later. His response? Calling Allen an attention seeker. The unclear outcome of their boxing match seems to have failed their efforts to settle their differences.

Rajon Rondo himself opened up on his boxing match with Ray Allen

During his appearance on Run it Back last year, Rondo broke his silence on the infamous boxing match he had with Allen. If you’ve ever wondered how things really went down between the two, Rondo himself gave a first-hand account.

Rondo revealed that the fight took place in the team’s weight room—because, apparently, that was the only way for him and Allen to settle their differences:

“We were competitive at every facet of life,” Rondo shared. “We always competed. And at that particular time, TA (Tony Allen) and Big Baby (Glen Davis) put the gloves on. Big Baby set him down quickly… Then me and Ray put the gloves on. There was no point in talking about each other behind each other’s back, let’s just fight as men.”

Rondo, however, chose to keep the winner a mystery. But if you ask Glen Davis, he’d tell you that neither of them came out on top. Back in 2022, Davis described how Rondo went in aggressively, aiming to knock Allen out, while Allen played it smart, keeping his distance and looking for openings with well-timed jabs.

Paul Pierce being the possible initiated of this faceoff now just adds another layer to the story.