Tony Allen is considered one of the best on-ball defenders the game has ever seen. Even with the stacked Boston Celtics roster, Allen was truly a valuable asset, something Danny Ainge seemed to be well aware of.
Allen revealed that the Celtics’ president of basketball operations used to have a unique way of keeping him motivated. While speaking on the “Out the Mud” podcast, he said:
“I remember Danny Ainge used to keep it so G with me though. I ain’t gonna lie. He used to be like, ‘TA, what’s up with you?’ I be like, ‘What’s up?’ He’d be like, ‘Nothing much. Just looking for somebody to come take your job.'”
“He used to flat-out tell me that. So that kept me in the gym, that kept me moving. I’m like, ‘Yo, yeah. Somebody’s coming to get me.’ So I always had to stay working, bro. Stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready. You know what I’m saying?”
Allen paints an interesting picture of Ainge. When considering some of the decisions he’d made as the president of the organization, it is evident that Ainge had a ruthless streak when it came to dealing with players on the roster.
Still, the interaction with Allen appeared to be more friendly than anything else. The result of the deadpan reaction helped generate a positive response from the forward, as it kept him motivated to keep working on himself and improving his performance.
Ainge’s influence possibly had a great impact on Allen’s development into a defensive stopper. During his time with the Celtics, the forward played a limited but significant role off the bench. He was a key part of the rotation during the team’s title charge in 2008. Apart from the NBA title, however, Allen didn’t win any individual accolades with the Celtics.
It was only after he joined the Memphis Grizzlies as a free agent in 2010 that he gained greater attention. As one of the core members of the Grizzlies’ “Grit and Grind” era, Allen established himself as a defensive stalwart.
In his first season with Memphis, Allen finished fourth in the DPOY race and earned an All-Defensive (second team) selection. He followed this performance with more grunt work and hard-nosed defense as a key player in the starting rotation, eventually racking up two more All-Defensive (first team) selections.
After 14 years in the NBA, Allen retired as one of the greatest defenders the league had ever produced, something several scoring legends have attested to.
He recorded an average of 8.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game, while shooting 47.5% from the field for his career. With six All-Defensive selections to his name, the forward truly embodied the essence of being a defensive anchor and a role player.
