When the Boston Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the summer of 2007 — leading to an NBA title (2008) and another Finals appearance (2010) — it arguably set the template for the star-heavy “superteams” that followed suit in the 2010s.

Allen and Garnett were accomplished veterans willing to sacrifice stats in order to win, and they joined Paul Pierce to form a dominant “Big Three.” The experiment immediately paid dividends, as Boston won 66 games in 2007-08.

Now, during an appearance on James Posey's “Posecast” on Monday, Allen provided insight on how the three stars united. Allen had played the previous four-plus seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics, making four All-Star teams and averaging 24.6 points per game. Once he was dealt to Boston, the Celtics green started to look more appealing to Garnett.

“[Garnett] had to OK the trade,” Allen said. “He was thinking about going to the Lakers and playing with Kobe, and then once I was traded to Boston, it struck him as very interesting…and he said, ‘You know what, this is potentially an opportunity for me.'”

Allen's revelation corroborates Garnett's comments from February, when he revealed that he initially tried to get traded to L.A. in 2007 in an effort “to link with (Kobe Bryant).”

“I shouted at Kobe he didn’t pick the line up,” Garnett told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on the “All the Smoke” podcast. “[Tyronn Lue] and Kobe were close and he said ‘shoot at him again and see what he on.’ So I shouted again and he didn’t get back, so I had to make a decision.”

Allen added that once he was “part of the Celtics regime,” Ainge informed him that a possible Garnett deal was in the works, prompting the sharpshooter to make a recruiting pitch.

“That's when I got on the call with Kevin,” the retired NBA guard added. “He was already basically done with Minnesota…And I was like, ‘We would love you here. It's a great situation.'”

Allen noted that Garnett “had some anxiety early” about playing in a new situation in a major East Coast city, but he may have been comforted by the fact that his life-long friend would be dealing with the same change of scenery.

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You can watch Ray Allen's full comments below: