Thank You, Jesus. HEAT Nation Thanks Ray Allen
It had been awhile since we heard from Ray Allen. The last two seasons, his name had been linked to multiple teams, hoping he would put off retirement. Hoping he would return to the court to tell Father Time “not now” and gear up to swish a dagger late in a crucial playoff game somewhere.
Well today, Allen put that speculation to rest by releasing a Letter to His Younger Self via The Player’s Tribune while also announcing his retirement.
As a lifelong HEAT fan who had the pleasure of watching Ray Allen in Miami for two epic runs to the NBA Finals, I think now is as good a time as ever to reflect back on his time in Miami.
Ray Allen was great in Milwaukee, great in Seattle, great in Boston, great in Miami, great with reporters, great on and off the court.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) November 1, 2016
I remember when the whispers started that he was thinking about joining Miami in defense of the 2012 championship. On one hand was cocky HEAT fan, how could anybody say no to The Godfather, King James and Flash? But also there was an underlying feeling, at least for me, of it being too good to be true. Could this team get that much better? Also, could they really convince Ray Allen to leave Boston and join his playoff arch enemies?
Whispers quickly became screams and Ray Allen was sitting next to Pat Riley in his office. WE GOT RAY was the tag line. Miami had acquired the piece that would ensure back-to-back championships. After the summer of 2010, Shane Battier taking less money the following summer to join and now Ray Allen coming board, it felt like Pat Riley could close the deal with anybody. He got them all. Discounted.
This HEAT fan felt like Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta, in Goodfellas when he talks about living differently than the rest of the world. Privileged. We were made men. The frame of mind went something like this:
“For us to live any other way was nuts. To us, those goody-good NBA teams led by conservative GMs overpaying average players, taking the subway to work every day, worried about the salary cap, were dead. I mean they were suckers. They had no balls. If we wanted something we just took it. If anyone complained twice they got beat on the court so bad, believe me, they never complained again.”
The season that followed did nothing but add fuel to the cocky HEAT fan’s fire. The team finished 66-16, winning 27 consecutive games along the way. Ray Allen played an instrumental part in all of that winning. Whether it was his 19 point debut vs Boston, to his game winning 4 point play vs Denver, to 21 points off the bench in a double OT thriller vs Sacramento during the 27 game win streak.
Allen didn’t start any games that season, but he finished almost all of them. It was uncanny to watch how effortlessly he would take big shots, and how quickly all of his high profile teammates trusted him to make them. He fit perfectly from the moment he arrived. In fact, their might not be a single player who came to the Miami Heat in my 26 years as fan who was trusted in big spots faster than Ray. Chemistry was formed in what felt like an instant.
After dispatching of Milwaukee, Chicago & Indiana in the Eastern Conference playoffs, a date with the San Antonio Spurs awaited the HEAT in the Finals. Finally the chance to win back to back championships was here. Four wins away from finishing the mission, from cementing the legacy of the Big three in Miami.
Through 5.95 games of that 2013 NBA Finals, the Miami HEAT looked outmatched. As the 4th quarter came to a close in Game 6, all of that bravado displayed by Cocky HEAT fan started to deflate like air leaving a balloon. The team was on the brink of elimination, on the ropes literally and figuratively.
As the clock winded down in Game 6 at American Airlines Arena, the HEAT down 5 points with 28 seconds left to play, officials began bringing yellow rope out to block off the court for the Spurs’ trophy presentation. It was over. The season from HEAT fan heaven was about to go to hell.
Then, Jesus himself rose to save us. Jesus Shuttlesworth, that is.
What came next cannot be described adequately in words. So better to just allow you to watch.
What you just watched was the most clutch shot in the history of the sport of basketball, on any level, in any country, by any player. Ever.
The feeling that came over HEAT fans when that shot went in is almost akin to an out of body experience. You don’t believe it’s happening, but you know it’s real. You have to pinch yourself and double check to make sure it’s real. But you know it is.
Although the rest of Game 6 and Game 7 were extremely close contests, and could have gone either way, when that shot went in by Ray Allen it felt like destiny. Even in the midst of an epic Game 7, a sense of calm was over me throughout the duration of the series.
We often discuss how Game 6 at Boston in 2012 was a defining game for the Big three era in Miami. How that game was a legacy defining game (at the time) for LeBron James. How it was “winner take all” for the blueprint in Miami.
What is discussed less frequently is what might have become of the Big three HEAT had Ray Allen’s shot not gone in with 5 seconds remaining in Game 6 vs San Antonio. Yes, they were coming off a championship in 2012, in the NBA Finals for the third consecutive year, but merely reaching the Finals was not considered a success. It was championship or bust. Truthfully, it was multiple championships or bust.
Ray Allen very well might have saved the HEAT from imploding a year sooner than it actually did in the 2014 NBA Finals. Many people around the HEAT insist had the HEAT lost to the Spurs in 2013, Chris Bosh was likely to be dealt. Or that it would have been seriously considered.
At the very least, Allen’s finger prints are all over the 2013 NBA Championship banner hanging from the rafters in American Airlines Arena. Considering the timeliness of Ray Allen’s contributions, maybe those finger prints are on that banner more so than any HEAT player not named LeBron James.
Ray Allen, for that, HEAT Nation thanks you. We thank you for the memories. Looking back, I think most of us would choose to go back and appreciate your time in Miami even more than we already do.
Thank you, for swishing the single biggest field goal in the history of Miami HEAT basketball.
The Big three era is over and potential trips to the NBA Finals seem farther away now than at any time in probably the last decade.
Life as “made men” in Miami is over.
But “The Shot” will live forever.