Legendary shooting guard Ray Allen has been in the news this week, mostly for reasons beyond his control.
Several members of the 2008 Boston Celtics championship team held a reunion earlier this week on TNT’s Area 21, and Allen was notable for his absence. As the former Celtics explained, they took issue with Allen’s departure via free agency for Miami in the summer of 2012.
But today Allen hosted an event in South Florida for his Ray of Hope Foundation, which was donating a computer lab to a middle school. And while Allen declined to answer questions about the Celtics, he did talk about his retirement, his advice for former Heat teammate Dwyane Wade, and what the future may hold for him, as Ira Winderman writes in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
Now, three days later, Allen had his opportunity to fire back. Instead, during a private moment he said he saw no reason or any value in such discourse, other than to affirm that a Facebook post seemingly cast in response to the TNT discussion was not of his doing, with the page in question no longer listed as his verified account.
And yet, given the opportunity to address a similar situation, Allen offered telling words when asked about whether South Florida icon Dwyane Wade could actually move on from the Chicago Bulls after an uneven, tumultuous season despite having a $23.8 million player option to return.
“One thing I can always say, being a free agent in any situation, you’ve always got to go to your happiness. Because, at the end of the day, whatever that dollar figure is, it does have an impact on your decision, but I think at the end of the day, you have to choose where it is you’re going to be happy and where you think you’ll fit the most,” said Allen, who during the 2012 offseason turned down a larger offer from the Celtics to join the Heat. “Because 82 games is a long time to be in some place where you may not be happy or may not feel like it fits. So I think for all of us, that’s kind of the impetus behind our decision.”
As for his decision to step away from the NBA following the Heat’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2014 NBA Finals, Allen, 41, said he simply viewed a world larger than a game.
“It’s one thing to talk about what you’ve done while you played the game,” he said, “But to do more after you’ve played this game, to use what you’ve learned, use your platform.”
For Allen, that responsibility has included his work with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, his appointment to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and ongoing political activism.
Of perhaps moving into politics, Allen first said Thursday, “Nowadays, it seems like Ronald McDonald could be a politician,” but added, “I would keep an open mind to it in the future as my kids grow up.”
