Since the NCAA began allowing student-athletes to sign NIL deals, the best talents in the country found a way to support their families with their athletic ability. However, back in the day, those from impoverished neighborhoods and families had to find ways to survive until they were drafted. Some fell victim to their circumstances, and Grizzlies icon Tony Allen was almost one of them.
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On his Out of the Mud podcast, he recalled an incident from his teenage days where the need to earn money to survive coupled with the violence in the streets of Chicago almost cost him his life. He revealed that one day while going about what was his usual business back then — selling drugs — he got shot at. He said,
“Some guys came through shooting! and as I’m making trynna you know trynna swerve whatever, I hear bullets come past my head, like real close killer. I’m talking about I’m hearing them, like 4K I’m hearing them! It spooked me so bad.”
After his brush with death, Allen decided to turn things around. He took a cab back to his grandmother’s house and while on his way there, he saw an ad for a pro-am tournament. He ran into an old friend and decided to play for his team. Future Warriors star Will Bynum saw Allen play and was impressed.
The guard claimed he was embarrassed to tell him that he had dropped out of high school to become a hustler. However, Bynum did not judge Allen and helped him get into Crane High School and get his life back on track.
The Grizzlies icon made it out of the life he never wanted for himself. After graduating from high school, he spent two years in community college before getting recruited by Oklahoma State, where he spent his junior and senior years.
He declared for the 2005 NBA draft and was selected 25th overall by the Celtics. Allen was fortunate to not lose his life and become another victim of the brutal gang violence in Chicago. But he made good use of his second chance in life, carved out a 14-year NBA career, and became an inspiration to many.
