‘Everyday Ray’
Allen, forever tied to one shot, was more than that alone to franchise
MIAMI – Ray Allen wasn’t around long enough to have his No. 34 jersey retired by the Miami Heat. But naming a bus after him might be a fitting homage for the guard who Friday will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
To most, the enduring memory of Allen’s two-year tenure in South Florida is of his 3-pointer that forced overtime of Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, allowing the Heat to escape with their third championship in Game 7.
But for a franchise known for Heat Culture well before Allen’s 2012 free-agency arrival, it is the way the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers upped the ante during his time under Erik Spoelstra.
Prior to Allen’s arrival, it was not unusual for players who wanted extra pre-game shooting drills to cab over to arenas even before the “early bus” that Pat Riley had prioritized for his developmental players more than a decade earlier.
But when Allen emerged as a Pied Piper of Heat shooters —
everyone from James Jones to Mike Miller and even LeBron James — Spoelstra recognized the need for an additional road round trip, essentially “the early early bus.”
“We had Ray going over in the cab and we had two buses, and then other guys started to go with him,” Spoelstra said.
“Then we said, ‘Wait a minute. If we have millions of dollars going in these cabs, this organization needs to create a new bus.’ ”
The “early shooters’ bus” has been a Heat staple since.
As has the enduring respect for Allen, even after a brief uneven patch when Allen opted not to return after the Heat’s 2014 Finals loss to the Spurs and then went on to question some of Spoelstra’s approach.
Spoelstra and Allen later would move past those differences, Allen’s iconic shot a featured part of the murals that line the path from the AmericanAirlines Arena court to the Heat locker room.
“I touch that photo every day,” Spoelstra said last season after Allen was voted into Springfield on the first ballot. “Grateful for Ray and his obsessive-compulsive work ethic to work on that shot thousands and thousands of times, when everybody else would think that was too ridiculous a circumstance to actually try to practice something like that.
“That will go down as one of the most iconic shots in NBA history.
And it was just an absolute blessing to be part of that moment, to be part of that team. I’m grateful I had an opportunity to coach a Hall of Fame player and person as Ray.”
Spoelstra previously had described what made Allen different from the others to wear the team’s uniform.
“Our nickname for him is, ‘Everyday Ray,’ ” Spoelstra said of Allen’s precision workouts and drilling. “It’s every day. It’s not every other day. It’s not some days. It’s every-singleday Ray.”
Allen, 43, becomes the latest inductee with ties to the Heat to make it to Springfield, following guard Gary Payton, centers Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O’Neal, assistant coach Bob McAdoo and Riley. Among those who will be in
Springfield, Mass., for Friday’s ceremony will Mourning, former Heat teammate and current Heat executive Shane Battier, as well as Heat executives Andy Elisburg, Steve Stowe, Rob Wilson and Yvette Morrell.
Allen said Friday’s moment will endure, even if limited to a five-minute speech because of the size of this year’s class.
“With me it’s pretty unique, because there’s 12 of us that’s inducted. So over the last couple of weeks, month or so, I’ve been writing the speech and trying to figure out what to say and [who to] thank,” he said during a recent NBA TV interview. “This isn’t about what I’ve done. It’s about everybody else in my life that’s allowed me to get to this point.”