Should #20 Be Raised To The Rafters?


In a recent interview Ray Allen declared that he'd like to be remembered as a Boston Celtic. He compared it to the way Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won multiple League MVP's as a Buck, but is ultimately remembered for his time in Hollywood.

Ray Allen doesn't show up on many of the Celtic's All-Time leaderboards, but he does have some numbers that state his claim. Over Ray's 4 Celtic season's he has posted a 117.7 Offensive Rating, that's good enough for fourth in Celtic History. His Celtic free throw percentage tops the board at .914, ahead of NBA Greats Larry Bird and Bill Sharman. He is only 2 Three Pointers away from passsing Larry Legend for 3rd All-Time in CELTICS HISTORY (Pierce and Walker are still ahead of him). And by the way Ray is currently on pace to destroy the single season three point percentage record, set just 2 seasons ago by Eddie House, Sugar Ray is shooting an astounding 45% from deep.

While this question is being asked right now, the answer may not be needed for another few years. Ray Allen is not going to be retiring after this season, he most likely will play for quite a while longer. Let's play around with some math...

Boston Career Averages + Percentages: 17.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.8APG, .474 FG%, .396 3PT%

Previous Career Averages + Percentages: 21.5 PPG, 4.6RPG, 3.9APG, .446 FG%, .397 3PT%


From looking at that you'll see that Ray Allen is not averaging less, but shooting better because of the players around him. This was of course the plan when putting the Big Three together, but not all things come together as you plan.

Before playing in Boston, Ray had to rehab from a surgery where he had bone spurs removed from both ankles. His season was stopped short in '06-07 because of the pain, but he was scoring a career high in points, and had just come of a 54 point output just two months earlier. Needless to say Ray Allen was on a roller coaster of emotions. Some questions began to surface about whether the 31-year-old jump shooter, coming off double ankle surgery, would ever be the same again. The Sonics didn't think so. Seattle could have had him playing alongside either Kevin Durant or Greg Oden, both of which were guaranteed superstars at the time, but they opted to move forward without their 7 Time All-Star. In their defense, who could have seen this production coming? (Besides Danny Ainge)

If Ray plays every game this season, and then 70 per year for the next 3, he would finish with over 9,000 Points in a Celtics uniform. Of course that's assuming a lot of things, but there's no reason to think that Ray Allen wants out of Boston, and there should be no reason to think he can't play at least another 3 seasons. Have you seen his body? He looks like a 20 year old.

Ray Allen is a Hall of Famer, he's The NBA's Three Point King, and his best seasons were here in Boston. As of right now the numbers may not add up, but when it's all said it done I have a feeling he'll be right up there in between Don Nelson and Bill Sharman.


This picture should help as well.