What is Ray Allen up to after turning 41 years old, and not playing a single NBA game since 2014?
Allen opened up on what's been happening since the last time he shot a basketball in the league.
“The minimum I run each day is 21/2 miles. I’ll get to the weekend and sometimes I’ll run 10 miles. I’ve gotten up to 16 miles on the weekend. Running keeps me locked in.”
“I want to run a marathon in the immediate future. In the future, I want to do ironman's. I cycle long distances. The only thing I have to work on is the swimming. I’m a good swimmer, but I’ve never done long distances like that.”
Playing plenty of golf and taking care of a health food store that he owns in Florida, along with his wife, Allen has his hands full.
He remains a stickler for his health so he still plays occasional pick up games, keeps his diet in check, and he attributes it all to his routine during his days playing in the NBA.
“What I learned in my career is to know how to take care of my body and treat it with respect. I will never forget that and never let go of that.”
Allen announced his official retirement on The Players' Tribute site, but says he didn't necessarily plan to stop playing so soon.
“After the 2014 Finals, I didn’t really think I was done and I thought there would be an opportunity. Then, I was thinking I didn’t necessarily need or want to go to training camp. So I was going to wait and see if there was a team that made sense for me.”
“That first year went by, and it didn’t make sense. There was nowhere I thought I could fit in. Coming into last year, I said, ‘Well, let’s see how it goes again. I started thinking, ‘Do I really want to do it? Do I want to be with my children? Or do I want to be away from my children?’ Then again, there wasn’t a situation that was worth it. Two years went by so quickly.”
He had turned down the best deal offered to him by the Houston Rockets, a full mid-level exception contract, but he didn't feel it was worth the trouble.
Family time, without too much grinding and being on a real contender would've fit his criteria, but that was all too good to be true for the aging sharp shooter.
Time doesn't wait for anyone, and Allen quickly found out he had other responsibilities. Family, business, and health maintenance occupies most of his time, but that one offer would've made him reconsider his schedule.
“One of the biggest factors was for me not to go back was the simple fact that I won twice already. I believed going into the 14-15 season, if I hadn’t won a championship, then I would’ve been on somebody’s roster. I would’ve moved. I would’ve tried to make it work anyway possible.”
Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and now Ray Allen.
The end of an era.
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