Did Ray Allen Change His Phone Number Or Just Dodge The Celtics' Calls?

Maybe you missed this because you were following any of the 300 more important NBA storylines, but the ballad of Ray Allen's cell phone has been one of the dumber and more fascinating subplots of the early NBA season. Let's recap.

Allen left Boston under contentious circumstances—after repeatedly being benched and dangled as trade bait, and not-so-secretly feuding with Rajon Rondo, he took . He got the Judas treatment on the way out, and not just from fans. On Celtics media day, Kevin Garnett told reporters that Allen was dead to him.

"I don't have Ray's number anymore. I'm not trying to communicate with him," Garnett said Friday at the Boston Celtics 2012 media day.

Just so there was no confusion, a Boston Herald reporter confirmed that Allen still had the same cell phone number, so if Garnett didn't have it, it was a willful deletion.

Fast forward to the last week of preseason. Doc Rivers was asked if he had any contact with Allen during the offseason, and he said he hadn't—nor had GM Danny Ainge. But it wasn't for a lack of trying.

"I actually tried to call him. After the year we talked fine and then when free agency started Ray didn't return Danny's calls, didn't return my calls. I stopped trying."

So far, so coherent. But last week Danny Ainge went on WEEI, and was asked—again—about the team's relationship with Allen. And in doing so threw a big monkey wrench into the "Ray Allen's being a dick" narrative.

"I've tried to reach out to Ray. Ray doesn't have the same number and I didn't even realize that until recently but he hadn't responded and I just thought he wasn't responding."

So which is it? Does Ray Allen have a bunch of unheard messages from Ainge and Rivers on his phone, and it makes him feel like a big man not to respond? Or did he actually change his number, and some random dude in Boston has been getting calls from the Celtics brass? Did Kevin Garnett angrily delete Allen from his phone, like a jilted 18-year-old girl? Or was KG being totally earnest, and "I don't have Ray's number anymore" was a public plea for someone to give him the new one?

This is important. Stupid, but important. If you're in the basketball media or for whatever reason have Ray Allen's number, please let us know whether he's changed it since the spring.