Ray Allen

Ray Allen just set the NBA record for 3 point made field goals in a career. He now has 2,561 made 3's in his career breaking Reggie Miller's long time record. Ray seems to be a very humble player and truly worked his butt off to earn this success. I ran across this blog post from Alan Stein blog.strongerteam.com describing Ray Allen's pregame routine.

I had the pleasure of connecting with Mr. Tommy Sheppard, the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards, prior to their recent game against the Boston Celtics. Tommy is a brilliant basketball mind and was extremely hospitable. He gave us a tour of the Cerizon Center and introduced us to everyone. Tommy is as classy as they get.

I was also fortunate to connect with my friend, Coach Kevin Eastman. As he always does, Coach Eastman took time out of his rigorous schedule to sit and talk shop.

We arrived at the arena at 3:30 p.m. (for a 7:00 p.m. game) to make sure we caught all of the pre-game action. True to legend Ray Allen was the first player to take the court. I got a chance to speak with Ray for a minute-what an amazing guy-no ego whatsoever.

Ray's pregame shooting routine for the day consisted of making 5 shots from 5 spots (corner, wing, center, other wing, other corner) from 5 different distances (close, 2-steps back, mid-range, college 3, pro 3) with 5 free throws in between each set. For those of you keeping score at home, thats 150 makes in about 20-30 minutes. Even though he was spot shooting, there was nothing casual about it. He was low, had his hands up, and was "shot ready" for ever pass and he shot every shot at game speed.

To me, the most impressive part is the fact that Ray has been going through a similar pregame routine for the past 15 seasons! That is a true commitment to excellence. Ray Allen is not an All-Star and one of the game's all time best shooters by accident. HE HAS EARNED IT.

Ray Allen shoots the ball the correct way every time (follow through, everything squared up, great footwork, quick release) For all the young players out there watch how guys like this shoot the ball and by reading that post you can see it doesnt happen over night....You have to be willing to put in the time and effort to make yourself the player you want to become.