Nice game … Senator? Blessed with all-around skills and an impeccable image, Ray Allen has the Bucks shooting for an NBA title on the court and his own lofty aspirations off it - Interview: Ray Allen - National Basketball Association - Statistical Data Included - Interview

Basketball Digest, Jan, 2002 by Brett Ballantini

ONE THING IS CLEAR: RAY Allen has changed. Maybe not in his own eyes, but in the eyes of anyone who follows the game. Before May 2001, Allen was a star with a sweet shot off a super-quick release, and ... hey, wasn't he in that Spike Lee movie with Denzel Washington?

May 2001 was when the Milwaukee Bucks played the balance of their 18 exhilarating and agonizing postseason games. For Allen, the playoffs were a once-in-a-lifetime explosion that catapulted him from star to game-breaker. 25.1 ppg, 6.0 apg, and 4.1 rpg in 42.7 mpg, capped off by stellar 48% shooting from the arc. And in his 17th game of the postseason, Milwaukee's crucial win-or-take-your-ball-home Eastern finals Game 6 win, Allen strung together 19 straight points, finishing with 41 and nine treys.

Nobody told Allen to put the Bucks on his back. But carry them he did. While the Big Dog was still busy licking Tracy McGrady's bite marks from the previous series, Sam Cassell was collecting Ts, and the rest of the cast was trying not to simply play Jordanaires watching the Ray Show, the 6'6" 2-guard made the most of his first true taste of the postseason spotlight.

Allen entered the 2001-02 season as one of the NBA's elite players, with a complete game that might even make the Kobes, Vinces, and AIs pale by comparison. In one summer, those who thought the two top entries on his basketball resume--two All-Star Games and a Third Team All-NBA selection--would be his peak now wonder if there's a better all-around player in the game. They wonder whether Allen will go down as one of the best pure shooters--and the very best three-point shooter--of all time. Try to determine if a championship ring is really that far-fetched for a player destined to spend the peak years of his career on the off ramp from the NBA's brightest lights.

We caught up with Allen early in a season that found the newly (Anthony) Masonized Bucks suddenly looking like the top dogs in the East. In Milwaukee's first week alone, Allen garnered NBA Player of the Week honors, averaging 31.7 ppg on 59.6% shooting from the floor--and an astounding 61.5% from the arc.

True to his sly reputation, Allen opened our interview not crowing about Milwaukee's fast start, but asking me and other writers in the locker room whether or not we had gotten our flu shots. From iron man (his consecutive games played streak is approaching 400--yes, that's every game of his career) to aspiring politician, Allen hit us up with answers from every spot on the floor.

BASKETBALL DIGEST: What's it like to start the season with a hot streak as compared to last year, when you flopped out of the gate?

RAY ALLEN: I'm not excited about it. I hate to lose--winning is great. Whether you beat a good team or a bad team, it's all the same. Coming from where we were last year till now--I don't know what starting 3-9 last year did to us, if it made us a lot more hungry or that we were just a good team realizing our potential, but I'm hungry to win more and continue to win.

I remember watching Philadelphia last year: They kept winning and getting higher and higher above everyone else in the standings. That's what I want to do. I want to be able to put victories together and have the feeling that when we play basketball, nobody can beat us. The last time I had that feeling I was in college, where when I went out on the floor, I felt that we were going to win every game, that we were invincible. I'm starting to have that same feeling inside of me now. But I want everybody on the team to feel how I'm feeling right now, any game we play.

BD: The crowd was chanting "MVP" when you shot your free throws toward the end of your home opener against the Celtics, in which you had a game-topping 32 points. What do you think when you hear that?

RA: That's scary. [Laughs] To think about being the MVP of the best in the world, that's one of the greatest accomplishments a person could ever achieve. Being a golfer or tennis player, winning a tournament is great, but those are all individual accomplishments. To be able to single yourself out among 12 guys on a team and be the MVP not only of your team, but the league, is great. That's been one of my goals since I was a young boy, and ifs out there for me. The better this team becomes, the more things will fall into place.

BD: How come I never see you poring over your numbers after the game?

RA: I don't worry about stats. I'll be on the floor, I'll handle the ball, whatever it takes. I just want to be efficient in my shots, I want to keep my turnovers to a minimum, and I want to be able to get my teammates involved and make them better.

BD: If Milwaukee fans aren't the loudest in the NBA, they have to be close.

RA: The fans deserve to enjoy this success. When the Celtics were announced [in the Bucks' home opener], they booed them. I was like, "Hey, that's my crowd right there." [Laughs] In Utah [for the Jazz home opener], when we came out, they cheered for every single player on our team. Here, they booed. That's the rowdiness I like. People know that when they come into our building, it's going to be pandemonium. I feel great being a part of that.