Ray Allen
Hall of Fame sharpshooter and 2008 NBA champion with the Boston Celtics.
Walter Ray Allen Jr. (born July 20, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Allen played 18 seasons in the NBA and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2018. He is widely considered one of the greatest three-point shooters of all time. Allen was a ten-time NBA All-Star, and won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the 2000 United States men's basketball team. At the time of his retirement, he was the leading three-point scorer in NBA history until he was surpassed by Stephen Curry in 2021. As of 2025, he ranks third on the NBA's all-time three-pointers list. In 2021, he was selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
- Role
- Shooting Guard
- Primary Affiliations
- Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat
- Knicks Tenure
- Never played for the New York Knicks
- Career Status
- Retired (2016)
- Hall of Fame
- Inducted 2018
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Allen played college basketball for the Connecticut Huskies for three seasons, before he was selected with the fifth overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft, and developed into a prolific scorer for the Milwaukee Bucks, featuring alongside Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell as the team achieved playoff success. In 2003, he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics, where he solidified his reputation as a scorer, breaking several league records for three-point and free throw shooting. Allen was later traded to the Boston Celtics, where he formed a 'Big Three' with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce; the team won an NBA championship in 2008. After five seasons with the Celtics, he played with the Miami Heat for two seasons, reaching the NBA Finals both times and winning the title in 2013; his clutch three-pointer to force overtime in Game 6 of the 2013 Finals is regarded as one of the most iconic and memorable plays in NBA history. Allen retired on November 1, 2016, after playing for four different teams.
In Their Own Story
Allen's career trajectory shifted dramatically when he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in 2003. In the 2005–06 season, he broke Dennis Scott's ten-year-old NBA record for three-point field goals made in a season against the Denver Nuggets on April 19, 2006. His most iconic moment arrived during his second stint as a champion with the Miami Heat. On June 20, 2013, in Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, Allen hit a clutch three-pointer to force overtime, a play regarded as one of the most memorable in history. After five seasons with the Boston Celtics, where he formed a "Big Three" with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to win the 2008 title, he spent two years in Miami. He retired on November 1, 2016, leaving behind a legacy as the leading three-point scorer until Stephen Curry surpassed him in 2021.
Reader's Guide
During his NBA career, Allen acted in some films, such as his role as basketball prodigy Jesus Shuttlesworth in Spike Lee's basketball drama He Got Game (1998). Allen's performance as Shuttlesworth was praised by critics, and the name was borrowed as Allen's basketball nickname. Allen was drafted with the fifth overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft. He was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks on draft night. He broke Dennis Scott's NBA single-season three-point record on April 19, 2006.
Did You Know?
- Allen was born at Castle Air Force Base near Merced, California.
- He played college basketball for the University of Connecticut from 1993 to 1996.
- Allen graduated from UConn with a Bachelor's Degree in General Studies in May 2023.
- He won the 3-point shootout during All-Star Weekend in 2001.
More in Legendary Players & Coaches
Related in New York Knicks
Links follow this subject's own source article.
Elsewhere in the New York Knicks universe
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record