Allen told Chris Vernon Tuesday, on Vernon’s Grind City Media show, that his intensity against OKC during Memphis’s “Grit and Grind” era wasn’t just about the two teams’ rivalry. It was because the Thunder didn’t sign as a free agent in 2010.

In that year’s seven-game first-round series, which the Thunder eventually won, Allen came off the bench in Game 4 to record 13 rebounds. He averaged 12.3 points in five games, a personal playoff best.

Tony Allen wasn’t just any second-unit player against the Thunder in 2014.

According to Allen, OKC brought him in for an interview. The defensive specialist was intrigued by the potential of a homecoming of sorts. Allen finished his college career at Oklahoma State, where he helped lead the Cowboys to the 2004 Final Four.

“I was so excited to go like, ‘Oh I got an interview, I’m finna go to Oklahoma,” Allen told Vernon.

Allen said the Thunder signed Thabo Sefolosha instead of him, but Allen became a free agent the year after Sefolosha signed a four-year contract extension with OKC. OKC traded for Sefolosha in February 2009, when Allen was in the first season of a two-year contract extension with the Celtics.

Regardless, the personal rivalry had been formed. Russell Westbrook became the specific target of Allen’s revenge.