Should the Boston Celtics retire Ray Allen's number? Eh...
Miami Heat guard Ray Allen stretches out during NBA basketball training camp, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012 in Miami. Should the Boston Celtics retire Ray Allen's number?
Tommy Heinsohn and Bob Cousy think so. Both of the Celtics legends told Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports that No. 20 should one day hang from the TD Garden rafters.
“I’m not in charge of retiring numbers, but, yeah, I would retire his,’’ Heinsohn said. “It should be retired. He helped them win a championship (in 2008). He was great when he was here… In this modern era of free agency, that was his decision to make (to go to Miami).’’
“I would retire his number,’’ Cousy said. “He was an integral part of the 17th title team. If you’re marketing your team in sports, it’s about what went on in the past and (going to Miami for Allen) shouldn’t keep that from happening… He’s a big boy. He can go where he wants. I assume he thinks he’s got a better shot at a championship than in Boston.’’
Yes, Allen's a big boy. But did he do enough during five seasons with the Celtics to justify having his number retired? Putting aside that he's recently thrown all types of verbal grenades at the Celtics, let's judge Allen's play on its own.
Pros
- Allen holds the Boston Celtics' single-season record for 3-point percentage, with 45.3 percent in his final season with the Celtics. He shot better than 40 percent from behind the arc during three of his five seasons with the Celtics, against defenses that knew it was smart to stop him from getting open looks.
- Allen didn't just win a title with the Celtics. He helped to restore greatness to the NBA's most successful franchise. When Allen and Garnett arrived in Boston, the Celtics hadn't won a title in 21 years. They won their 17th during the Big Three's first season.
- Allen claimed history with the Celtics, breaking the NBA's career 3-point makes record with the team. He had so many big moments, including 51 points in a playoff game against the Bulls, the driving layup past Sasha Vujacic to help complete the wild comeback from 24 points down in Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals, and seven (!) 3-pointers in the deciding Game 6 of that same Finals. He also drilled many game-winning or game-tying shots -- I could describe all of them but, sadly, I have other things to do later this week.
- Allen made three All-Star games during his five seasons with the Celtics. I would mention that he once scored 28 points in an All-Star game, but I'm not sure the criteria for getting a number retired should include "statistics recorded in the meaningless preseason exhibition of basketball's best players."
Cons
- Allen played only five years with the Celtics. No player's number has been retired in Boston after fewer than six years with the team. And the two who had six years with Boston both make better cases than Allen: Ed McCauley, one of Boston's very first superstars, made the All-NBA First Team three times during his six years with Boston. Reggie Lewis put together an impressive, albeit brief, career before passing away while playing basketball at Brandeis University. His retired number is sentiment as much as anything, but he likely would have had a Celtics career considerably longer than six years if he stayed alive.
- Allen only won one title. Within some franchises, that would be cause for annual reunions with dancing that lasts until 4 a.m. But every Celtics championship core before the Big Three had at least two titles. I'm not trying to insult everything the Big Three accomplished. They deserve plenty of kudos for restoring glory to the Celtics and for always seeming to play their best basketball in the playoffs. I'm just saying this: It's not like Allen's one ring sets him apart from any other Celtics great.
- In five years with the Celtics, Allen was never better than the third-best player when his teammates were all healthy. Once Rajon Rondo catapulted him (two or three years ago, maybe?), Allen became the fourth-best player. Last season, one could argue he was lower than that.
The verdict
No, Allen doesn't deserve his number retired. Even without taking into account his latest beef with the entire Celtics organization (which matters, since the organization decides whose numbers are retired and all), Allen didn't do enough to justify having his jersey hang alongside Larry Bird's and Bill Russell's (or JoJo White's, or Dennis Johnson's, or anybody else's, for that matter) in the rafters.
In just five seasons, he would have had to put together a magnificent Celtics career. Allen was great at times and contributed to the Celtics return to relevance. He hit plenty of big shots and, even when he became disgruntled, he never allowed it to challenge his focus or determination. His jump shot -- and this is going to be long-winded, so proceed with care --reminds me of the moment when you arrive at the beach and you first see the waves crashing, when the sand softly envelops your toes, the scent of the sea blasts into your nostrils, the sun beams on your shoulders, and it’s vacation, and you have no responsibilities, and everything is relaxed and good-natured and free, and your family is with you and some of them are playing that bean-bag toss game, corn hole, and others quickly tear off their shirts and sprint into the ocean, which is cold and refreshing and salty and gorgeous. Allen was very good for the Celtics. He just wasn't good enough, in only five years, to warrant his number being retired.
Allen left on bad terms to the Celtics' rival for considerably less than what the Celtics were offering, and has sent plenty of criticism toward Boston since. But that ultimately shouldn't matter when the Celtics make a decision whether to retire his number. Allen didn't do enough on the court, anyway.