Ray Allen’s time with the Seattle SuperSonics brought the best out of one of the top shooters in NBA.
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In between getting drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1996 and joining the Boston Celtics in 2007, Ray Allen had a 4-year stoppage at one of the most lively basketball supporting cities, Seattle. With the Seattle SuperSonics, Allen played the best basketball of his life.
One of the greatest shooters of all time, Ray was always a consistent scorer since coming into the league. But he never averaged 23 or more points before coming to Seattle or even after going out.
With the Sonics though, his average crossed that margin in all four years of his stay. He even averaged 25 and above in his latter two years. He was in an entirely different zone when he played for the Sonics, he has addressed that himself.
Ray Allen’s zone was different
Allen’s control in his craft and his body separated him from almost everyone. Arguably the owner of the best shooting form ever, he was so adept at altering his flight path with mid-course corrections that he often avoided contact altogether, thus losing out on a trip to the foul line throughout his career.
Ray Allen Miami Heat basketball player pump fake on Danny Green Spurs player in NBA playoffs finals. Commentator: “excuse me i’m just gonna chill for a second till you fly by me and then make you pay the price” pic.twitter.com/ZSwaMt3FNR
— for the culture reactions (@findareaction) January 8, 2022
That might be the greatest as well as coldest pump fake ever. Ray’s Indiana Pacers counterpart, Reggie Miller rather used to get contacts while shooting on a consistent basis, earning a tremendous amount of free throws in the process. But this never stopped Allen to put up big games, rather it helped him to get in his zone.
OTD (2007) Allen scored a career-high 54 PTS (18 in the 4th) with the Sonics. pic.twitter.com/qjCbML2knX
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 12, 2022
Not only did he score a career-high in his final season with the Sonics in 2007, but the 10-time All-Star also averaged a career-high in points – 26.4 per game. But without help, he failed to take the team to the Playoffs for the second consecutive season, which forced him to take his talents to the Boston Celtics after that season.
Although he never played as well he did in his Seattle days, the 2-time NBA champ was a crucial part of both his championship teams in Boston and Miami. Coming off as a role player for the Heat team, Allen had the lowest scoring seasons for his career in his last two years in the league.
But it was the period of his career for which he might be remembered the most when he made arguably the most clutch shot in the NBA’s history from the 3-point line against the Spurs in game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals.