Ray Allen was born July 20, 1975.
Allen's long-range shooting skills helped push the NBA toward increased usage of the three-point shot. He set an all-time NBA record with 2,973 career made three-pointers and averaged 18.9 points in his 1,300 regular-season appearances.
As a junior for the Connecticut Huskies in 1995-96, Allen averaged 23.4 points on a ridiculous 46.6 percentage from three-point range. Allen was named a first-team All American by the Associated Press, Big East Player of the Year, and he was the final recipient of the United Press International College Basketball Player of the Year Award (which was given from 1955 to 1996 to the nation's top player).
After forgoing his senior season, Allen was selected fifth overall in the legendary 1996 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, and soon asserted himself as one of the league's top threats on and off the floor.
After starring as Jesus Shuttlesworth in the 1998 film "He Got Game," Allen made three consecutive All-Star Game appearances from 2000 to 2002, averaging more than 20 points per game in each of those seasons. 2000-01 was a breakthrough year for Allen, as he made the All-NBA third team and led the Bucks to their farthest playoff run since 1974, before they fell to the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
After spending parts of seven seasons with the Bucks, Allen was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics for Gary Payton during the 2002-03 season, and he continued to rack up individual achievements. Although the Sonics never passed the second round in his tenure, Allen made the All-Star Game in all four years with the team, increasing his scoring average in each season to peak at 26.4 points per game in 2006-07. Allen's total of 269 three-pointers in 2005-06 set a new single-season NBA record (which has since been broken by Stephen Curry).
As Allen got deeper into his 30s, the individual stats began to decline, but he finally experienced the team success that had eluded him in Milwaukee and Seattle. Allen was traded to the Boston Celtics before the 2007-08 season, and he joined with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to form a "Big Three" that immediately wreaked havoc on the league. The Celtics won the NBA Finals in Allen's first season there with a 4-2 series win over the Lakers, and Allen tied an NBA Finals record with seven three-pointers in the clinching win.
Allen spent four more seasons in Boston, making the playoffs each time but never repeating the 2008 title run. In the 2010 NBA Finals, the Celtics fell in a rematch with the Lakers, but Allen topped his record performance from two years prior, connecting on eight three-pointers in a Game 2 win. Allen went on to surpass Reggie Miller for the most career three-pointers in league history during the 2010-11 season.
The 6-5 guard created some controversy when he signed with defending champion and Celtics' rival, the Miami Heat, during the 2012 offseason, but he was a crucial component to their repeat title. Even though Allen's stats took an even greater dip when sharing the court with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, he kept the team alive in their eventual 2013 NBA Finals victory with this desperation Game 6 jumper:
Allen also played the 2013-14 season with the Heat, averaging 9.6 points, before sitting out the 2014-15 season. Allen has not sent in official retirement papers to the NBA, so he is still eligible to return to a team for the 2015-16 season, but he has not publicly expressed interest in doing so yet.
In 2008, Allen was named the third-best player in Bucks history, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. If he does not choose to return to the NBA this season, he will be eligible for Hall of Fame induction in 2020.
