BOSTON – Former Celtics star Antoine Walker still holds a grudge over the trade that sent him to Dallas.

In an interview with The Boston Globe, Walker called Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge “a snake” and accused Ainge of dealing him to Dallas “to set my career back a little bit.”

Walker predicted that the transaction that sent him and Tony Delk to Dallas in exchange for Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, Chris Mills, and a first-round pick in 2004, instead might set the Celtics back three or four years.

He faulted Ainge, the former Celtics guard hired at the end of last season to steer the franchise to its first championship since 1986, of saying one thing and doing another.

“Don’t give me the runaround that you’re not going to trade me, then trade me,” Walker said. “He was saying all the right things. But, obviously, he did the opposite thing.”

“I never had a relationship with him,” Walker added. “I knew he was going to be a snake.”

Ainge denied targeting Walker and said he viewed Walker as a player still hurt by being traded.

“Danny wanted to get rid of me,” Walker told the Globe. “If you look at the trade, I think he really felt like I wouldn’t mesh with these guys in Dallas. Me, personally, I think he was really trying to set my career back a little bit. If you really look at what I got traded for, it’s got to be the biggest difference 1/8in talent 3/8 in history. Usually, an All-Star gets traded for an All-Star. And you gave away Tony Delk, a proven scorer in this league.”

“Time will answer all the questions,” Ainge said. “I’m not going to get into a squabble with Antoine Walker. Every player that gets traded is emotionally hurt and their pride is hurt and I understand it.

“I obviously don’t agree. And I can’t think of a better situation that Antoine Walker went to than Dallas, individually and everything,” Ainge said, adding that Dallas “was the only organization that made any offers of any significance.”