It was Doc Rivers who sent the first text.
Ten months after former Celtics center Kendrick Perkins was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2011, Rivers sent a message to Perkins and other members of his 2008 championship Celtics team, including Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Tony Allen and, Rajon Rondo. It was Christmas Day, and up until this point, the relationship between Rivers and Perkins was rocky. Perkins felt like Rivers had been a “father-figure” to him, one that encouraged him on the court and held him accountable off of it, but now he had been traded.