Hall of Fame shooting guard Ray Allen named LeBron James and Sam Cassell as his favorite teammates of all time in an interview with Shams Charania of The Athletic. Allen played with many great players throughout his career, including Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter, Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning and many more. However, James and Cassell stood out above all the rest as teammates.
“Toss-up between Sam Cassell and LeBron James. Sam was a guy you wanted to go to battle with. He wouldn’t quit on you and do whatever he could. He never wore bad body language. LeBron is a guy who you’ll have fun with, he’ll compete with you, but he is always one of the guys. He never made himself bigger than the next man,” said Allen.
Allen played with Cassell for several seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, and they briefly reunited to win a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008. Allen left the Celtics in 2012 to join up with LeBron's Miami Heat to finish his career.
Allen was a 10-time NBA All-Star and a two-time NBA champion during the course of his two-decade career. He is undoubtedly viewed as one of the most prolific shooters to ever play the game. He shot 40 percent from behind the arc for his career and has the most 3-pointers in NBA history with a mark of 2,973. Allen will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this Friday.
Allen's last NBA appearance came in 2014, when his Miami Heat lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals. He didn't retire until 2016 when a letter to his younger self was published in The Players' Tribune.
Even though his move to Miami to chase a ring with LeBron caused a rift between him and some of his former teammates that still exists to this day, nobody can argue Allen's profound impact on the NBA.