Ray Allen is one of the best three-point shooters the NBA has ever seen. Playing for the likes of the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics, Allen was a sharpshooter like no other and won a championship each with the two teams.
While he is well known for his insane three-point shooting exploits, there was a time when Allen was a superstar and former Orlando Magic legend Tracy McGrady certainly knows a thing or two about the same. Playing against each other throughout the 2000s, McGrady and Allen had some great matchups. In an appearance in The Jump, McGrady explained why Allen was a beast in his prime.
People forget how good he was he was before he was with Miami and in Boston because he turned into just a jump shooter by circumstances. When he was with Milwaukee, this dude did everything. Shooting, coming off the dribble shooting, making plays, he did all of that.
He was a guy that can score in a variety of ways. You think about somebody that’s in great condition, like a guy like Ray Allen and then Reggie Miller, like these guys are non-stop movement, but what he had on them was he had the off the ball and off the dribble game. He had the athleticism; he had the playmaking ability, and he never got tired and he was clutch.
Before he made his move to the Celtics, Allen played for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Seattle Supersonics. While it was in Boston where Allen was given a role of a shooting specialist and an off-ball threat, in Seattle and Milwaukee, the 6’5″ guard was the go-to superstar.
Playing for the Bucks, ‘Sugar Ray’ was known for his ferocious dunks and his incredible scoring exploits. After a decent showing in the first three seasons, Allen truly stepped up his game and made the All-Star team three times in a row. It was during this time that the Bucks came very close to making it to the 2001 NBA Finals but unfortunately lost a seven-game series to the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
While the guard continued to perform, the Bucks were convinced that trading their superstar might do the trick for them, and they shipped away Allen to the Seattle Supersonics. In Seattle, Allen never really had a good supporting cast to rely on. But during these four and a half seasons with the SuperSonics, the 6’5″ guard showed why he was a superstar, averaging his career best 24.5 points, 4.2 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game.
Given how incredibly talented he was in his prime, Ray Allen could easily have remained a superstar, but he sacrificed his star role in order to win championships. Two championships later, it is clear why Allen making that sacrifice worked.
