The start of the 2014-15 NBA season had a storyline that was awash with rumours but nobody never really knew what was legitimate. I am talking about Ray Allen and whether he is retiring or not.
As we know now he took a sabbatical to be with his family, which is fair enough. But teams didn’t go without having a crack at offering Allen a place.
Allen, the former UConn star and the most accomplished three-point shooter in NBA history, turned 40 on July 20 and has now been out of the game a full season, though, he said “a quarter to half” the teams in the NBA contacted him about coming back in time for the playoffs last spring.
“I didn’t miss it,” he said. “I realized how much time I missed not being home with my kids. I probably missed it in the Finals. Watching Cleveland and Golden State play, it just seemed like an epic battle that required a lot of precision on the floor and that’s when I felt, that was probably the only time that I felt like, ‘Man, I should have been out there.’“
Some teams just get desperate. Besides, Allen is far from washed up. The guy can play for another 5 years, considering what his game demands.
Every team will want him, and they still might have the chance. Even though Allen doesn’t miss the NBA per se, he isn’t officially calling it a career just yet.
“I haven’t said anything about that and I won’t officially retire,” Allen said Saturday during a break in his basketball camp for kids at East Granby High. “Because if something came to the table, contractually and situational-ly, I want to be able to take a strong look at it. I don’t want to be that guy that says he’s retiring and then is coming back.”
“It would be one thing if I played 10 or 11 years,” he said “But playing 18, I got a lot out of it. I like the feeling of knowing I don’t have to beat myself into the ground.“
So he wants to leave his options open, he doesn’t mind retiring, but if a tasty deal comes through, you never know. It might not be the last time we hear the loudspeaker go “Ray Allen for Threeeee!”
