Everywhere he's gone in his NBA career of nearly 15 years, he's been the standout 3-point shooter. When his teams have needed a big shot, they've turned to him, but he's never made himself the focus. It's always been about the team.
In Milwaukee and Seattle, Allen was on a lot of losing teams and went largely unnoticed. In Boston, he's been part of a powerhouse Celtics team, something much greater than himself.
But on Thursday night, at home at the TD Garden, facing the Lakers in front of a national television audience, it was his moment. He tied Reggie Miller's record of 2,560 3-pointers early in the evening, and minutes later, he broke it. He wasn't entirely ready.
He'd always known how to shoot the 3, but he didn't know how to break a record. He didn't know how to celebrate an individual milestone.
"Somebody told me this is my moment, enjoy it," he said. "And I'm sitting there thinking, I've never really had a moment that's mine. I've always shared it with guys. So I'm standing on the floor, and I've got to take individual praise for 30 seconds, and I don't know how to do that. I've never had to. I've never had a time where I've had to stand out there and say thank you, because it really was about me."
Allen connected on his second 3 with 1:47 left in the first quarter against the Lakers. In the moment, his reaction was minimal — he smiled, he briefly looked up at the roaring TD Garden fans, and then he headed back down the floor to play defense. Meanwhile, a standing ovation engulfed him, and it lasted for several minutes, through the end of the first quarter.
It wasn't until then, with a break at the end of a quarter, that he had a chance to truly appreciate the moment. He first embraced Miller, who was at the scorer's table in the front row broadcasting the game for TNT, then his mother, then his wife and kids.
It was the great irony of Allen's record-setting moment — even when trained to appreciate a moment that was all about himself, he couldn't help but share it with everyone else. The record belonged to him, but he had to share it with Miller and with his family.
And of course, to the sellout crowd supporting him at the Garden.
"It was all about these fans in Boston," he said. "It was all about the fans in Boston. The stage here was set, and everybody was ready. Going back a game ago, in Charlotte, the stage wasn't there, and I knew people wanted to see me do it. If I did it, I did it, but the stage here was set. When I ran out on the floor, I saw all the signs and all the people. This record, I just didn't really understand until that moment just how big it was. Coming into the game, the game was already big enough, with who we played and with being on national TV. But this is going to stay with me forever."
The record might stand forever, too. It's not every day someone comes along that can knock down 2,562 3-pointers (and counting). A moment like that, it's supposed to be all about you. That's a concept Ray Allen's still trying to grasp.
