How good was Ray Allen actually?

Ray Allen has had many accomplishments during his career. Like winning championships, hitting his iconic three-pointer against the Spurs in the NBA Finals, and was a 10-time All-Star. Undoubtedly being one of the most successful players in NBA History and had great players around him; but how did he play individually? 

That is what I am going to be discussing today as I am breaking down how good Ray Allen was actually. Don’t get me wrong, Ray Allen is tremendous, but did he get there by being a stud or by having a team/coach to push him onwards?

Before I keep going forward with this debate of if Ray Allen is good or not, let me give you guys a background on his childhood/college years.

Early Years

His family often traveled a lot before settling down in Dalzell, South Carolina. Since he lived in Britain for some time he was always the odd-kid-out, how? Even though he had athletic abilities kids still didn’t like him and picked on him a lot, now did this bother him I don’t know. What I do know is that he worked very, very hard to train for basketball. He had a growth-spurt leading him to have an advantage over kids at basketball.

This worked out in his favor as he became a beast on the court by leading his basketball team (Hillcrest High School’s varsity team)to their first state-championship win; his team finally reached the gold and retrieved it. 

In a blowout victory for the Hillcrest Wildcats, Ray Allen posted huge numbers by scoring 26 points and getting 12 rebounds. This led him to choose between the University of Kentucky and the University of Connecticut.

College Years

Ray Allen chose the University of Connecticut as his college to go play basketball at, he was recruited by assistant head coach Karl Hobbs. He got off to an amazing start to his basketball journey throughout college, as he was winning awards left and right.

He won awards USA Basketball’s Male Athlete of the Year and was selected to be first-team All-American and won the Big East Player of the Year award. Allen finished his college career with 1,922 points and set a record to have the most threes shot in a season (115).

Finally answering the question, how good was Ray Allen actually?

Interestingly, like Vince Carter, Ray Allen was traded when he was taken with the fourth overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He was originally drafted by the Timberwolves, but, instead, was traded to the Bucks.

When Ray Allen arrived in Milwaukee, he started to play really well. His team, the Bucks, formed a trio around Vin Baker, Glenn Robinson, and Ray Allen. They were the top three scorers, they were very productive working together.

Their stats combined are unbelievable. They combined for 55 points, 20.3 rebounds, and 7 assists per game. Ray Allen had such a good season that he was in the Dunk Contest, came in fourth, but still showed an impressive performance.

During his time with the Bucks, he was building a legacy. He signed a 6 year, 70.9 million dollar contract extension. This was following the 1998-99 NBA LockOut.

Now, it is worth noting that he didn’t complete his full contract with the Bucks. How? When he signed the contract it was signed in 1999, he was traded to the SuperSonics in 2003. He only spent four out of the six years with the Bucks during his new contract.

Believe it or not, even though the team and him were playing great they just could have never gotten past the Eastern Conference Round. They were always falling apart in the playoffs.

His stats were very good, and he showed a lot of progression during his time with the Bucks. He had 19 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists for the seven seasons that he played for the team.

Why did the Bucks trade him?

The short answer. When you sign a player to a huge contract and not make any progress in the playoffs, you start to lose faith in that player and think it’s time for a change. The change was probably made in a few ways. Trade him and a few players, just trade him, or press the restart button.

Honestly, to me, I think it was time for him to get out of there. Even though he was making a lot of money, he still wasn’t getting to the Finals and winning it, or even coming close to it. It took the franchise seven years until they let him go, I believe it was the best of both worlds. The Bucks could find someone new and Allen could continue his career somewhere else.

Ray Allen’s affect on the SuperSonics

Allen had great affect on the Seattle SuperSonics, Allen, individually, he the best stats when with Seattle than with the Bucks. He would go on to have 20 point seasons until his departure with the team.

Even though the record isn’t always pretty and they didn’t show much improve as a team with Allen. They still paid him 5 years, 80 million. Don’t get me wrong, Allen was amazing but something didn’t click.

Even he appeared to be done playing for non-contenders of winning games, winning playoff games, and reach their season goals. Even though he was given a lot of money to play for the SuperSonics, they just never gave a solid team around Allen for them to reach the playoffs.

It is a shame that the original splash brothers, not Curry and Thompson (Warriors), Allen and Rashard Lewis. Lewis was a sharpshooter not to mess with as he was a beast with the ball, Allen and Lewis worked together very well and appeared to have no conflicts with each other.

Sadly, even with those two guys the team just wasn’t good enough for the playoffs. Surprisingly, as I said before, that was Allen’s greatest stats ever. Averaging 25 points per game for five seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics.

STOP! Does this prove something about Ray Allen?

So far in his journey through the NBA we have seen him play phenomenal even during the rougher times in his career. The SuperSonics didn’t help his chances of becoming the next big thing in the NBA Finals, or at least the playoffs in general. And even though they only made it to the playoffs once, 2005, and lost he still showed that he still got it.

To me, he is proving that he doesn’t need a good team around him to ball-out. When he is in the zone there is no telling what this man can do. Unfortunately when your the only good player on your team and not making it to the playoffs then that might have a bad taste in your mouth.

For Allen, this is amazing, why? He just proved that he was worth all that money he has been getting paid. Plus he has been showing us that he can play without having to be lifted up by other players.

That was one of the main questions on if he was better or worse with a bad team. he certainly has proven that throughout his 12 year career so far, but the best is yet to come.

Enough is enough, he wants to play for a REAL franchise!

The Boston Celtics were becoming a good team. They had Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen as their top three players. With Allen being 32 years old and wanting to play for a playoff-contending team, he was excited to play for Boston.

Even though he was a third option and only got 13 shots per game, he still was pretty dominant. This was the kind of team he was hoping to get, which he did.

He made it to numerous playoffs, finals, and, yes, won a championship ring. He did it back in 2008 with the Celtics. Plus, he also broke Reggie Miller’s three-point record. He spent five years with the team, this includes him resigning on a two-year contract.

No doubt that he was dominant with the Celtics, he had a good team, made it to the playoffs/finals, and actually won a ring. Pretty big accomplishments since turning 32 years old.

Here comes the Heat

When Allen made the decision to join the Heat many people were skeptical of this, but it didn’t matter, why? Because this was the best time of his career when not worrying about stats.

When he joined the Heat, he was mainly a spot-up shooter. That’s okay since he was very old during his time with the Heat. He got more achievements with the Heat by winning a few more rings, hitting a game-deciding shot in the NBA Finals, plus got to be in back-to-back finals.

The Heat in my opinion, when not considering stats, was his best year. Not only did he win games, but also win championships. Allen will always be remember for his clutch shot in the NBA Finals against the Spurs. LeBron, Wade, and Allen was so good. That trio was so talented that it wasn’t hard to believe that they were winning games and championships.

Finally, is Allen as good as we think he is?

The bottom line is… yes, yes he is. He was incredible, not just shooting but an all around player. He knew how to get the open looks, how to box-out, how to sell it on offense.

Allen stared on bad teams that couldn’t make it to the playoffs a lot, not even the Finals (very rarely). He has proven that he doesn’t need a good team around him to ball out, he proved that with the SuperSonics.

He was one of the elite shooters in his prime, what he could do with the ball was unbelievable. he certainly has proved to be a dominant force until his declining years of old age.

Even as a third-option for the Heat, he was still balling out. When he took those shots or played aggressively on the court you knew he was serious. Sadly, to me, when he was so good at his shot, his accrcury and taking the contact, it was the focus point of his game.

He wasn’t known for having great passing skills, not having good defensive skills nor rebounding but instead for his shooting. There was a certain way he would do things with the ball, that is why he is the top player when he was in his prime.

No one could stop him, even if they tried. When it is all said and done Ray Allen is one of the most dominant athletes in the world of basketball, and it isn’t even close.

What do you guys think, do you think he really is that good or no?