Boston Celtics champion shooting guard Ray Allen saw his career 3-point record shattered by Golden State Warriors star point guard Steph Curry, with a passing of the torch from one of the game’s greatest shooters having taken place in the same sort of way Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller once did when Allen broke Miller’s career 3-point makes record.
But it might surprise younger readers to learn that the Connecticut product was not always known for being a lethal shooter alone, and actually had a fairly diverse offensive arsenal he would later downplay to fit into Boston’s schema, which he discussed in an extensive interview with NBA.com’s Shaun Powell.
“Once I got to Boston, I was playing in prime time, and based on the way we were playing, I’m suddenly no longer a pick-and-roll player, I’m no longer a post-up player,” he explained. “I’m strictly a space guy who can shoot the 3s.”
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“We did this because we had so many other great players,” added Allen in a nod to the star-studded “Big Three” of Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce he would win a title with in Boston.
That shift changed Allen’s perception to be more of a shooter than an all-around scorer, but ironically took between about 3 and 5 3-pointers per game due to all the other high-end options he shared the starting lineup with as a Celtic.
Allen spoke about when he broke Miller’s career record from beyond the arc in Boston as well.
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“I didn’t feel I did anything special when I set it,” related the former Husky. “I didn’t feel like I was shooting 3s on purpose to get a record, nor was this my mission.”
“For me, being consistent over a long time, that’s what greatness adds up to, and that’s what it was like my whole career, doing the extra things which is what makes you extraordinary. So being a 3-point shooter was never my focus. I could shoot 3s but I could get to the hole and dunk, I liked the mid-range game, I could use my left hand around the basket.”
“All those things are what I was for my whole career,” Allen added, downplaying the role of the 3 in his career. In fact, he doesn’t even see himself as among the greatest shooters in the sport.
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“I wouldn’t put myself in the conversation,” offered Allen surprisingly. Who he sees as the very best might surprise even more.
“The greatest I’ve ever seen, someone who was amazing, was Dell Curry because of the way he shot so efficiently without moving with the ball. It was like he could throw the ball up there. But Reggie (Miller) was the greatest all-around shooter, being able to carry his team, he was an assassin. When you break it down, him being able to get to the free-throw line, great coming off screens, he wasn’t a pick-and-roll player but a guy you had to know where he was every moment of the game.”
“Guarding him was hell for me,” recounted the Celtics champion.
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That Allen would rate the elder Curry above his sons both is an unexpected twist given Dell shot the rock 40.2% on a much lower rate of efficiency than Stephen (43%) and Seth (44%), and far fewer per game as well.
Perhaps Allen sees something archetypical in Dell we do not, but we do know he is being exceptionally modest excluding himself from the greatest shooter of all time debate given he himself was a career 40% shot from deep.
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