One of the most eye-catching comments about Ray Allen from players around the league in the wake of his retirement came from one of his closest teammates, Paul Pierce: the Truth compared Ray-Ray to President Barack Obama.

“I would consider Ray the Barack Obama of the NBA,” Pierce told The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears. “He spoke really well. Not that he is not intelligent, but he would come off really well. He can convince you pretty much about anything.”

Allen was always even-keeled, consistency and serenity personified — every answer was proper and succinct, thoughtful and insightful, yet not overly redundant.

“He was like the political side of our basketball team,” Pierce said of Allen. “He was the even-keeled demeanor of our basketball team, which made us so unique. KG was really intense. I was kind of in the middle. Then you had Ray to kind of balance us out.”

Allen made a lasting impression, not only on all his former teammates, but on the coaching staff as well.

“A pro's pro,” head coach Doc Rivers called his former player. “People have no idea how hard he worked on his craft. I never had to worry if Ray was ready or not. I always appreciated that.”

“If he saw you reading a book, it was guaranteed the next day he would have it,” Rivers said of Allen's constant hunger for knowledge. “He was a seeker of information.”