Ray Allen’s Productive Life After the NBA

Ray Allen is one of basketball’s living legends. He was already a superstar when he played for the Boston Celtics, but he solidified his status after joining the Miami Heat. He’s a two-time NBA Champion, and five years after his retirement, he continues to hold the NBA record for most career three-point field goals. In fact, many consider Allen as one of the best shooters the league has ever had. One of his most memorable shots was the game winning three-pointer he made to tie Game 6 of the NBA Finals back in 2013. With 5.2 seconds left in the game, Allen came in to the rescue to eventually lead the Miami Heat to victory in the series.

Career

Since retiring in 2014, Allen has surely kept busy. In 2018, Allen was officially inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Even though it had been rumored to happen years before he retired, Allen had a few naysayers among his peers. The Hall of Famer doesn’t let anything faze him, however. The 43-year old former NBA star has plenty to look forward to. He’s young. He’s healthy. And he’s certainly established a name for himself in the industry and beyond.

In 2017, Ray Allen published his memoir, From the Outside: My Journey Through Life and the Game I Love. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Allen talked a lot about his basketball career—especially his time with the Celtics. While he played the game, people didn’t hear much about his life within the courts and outside. The book served as a tell-all, and it gave significant insight as to why he left the Celtics. Allen also discussed the situation in Miami shortly before he stopped playing for the team.

Many people were wondering if Allen was going to transition into coaching. He’s certainly got what it takes to lead a team to victory, but Allen wanted to focus on his family after retirement. Allen has been married to actress Shannon Walker Williams since 2008 after dating her for four years prior. The couple has four children together, and their family life could get quite hectic. In 2008, their second son, Walker, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Taking care of Walker’s health has become an extra important part of the Allen’s family life. The Allen family has been active supporters of both the Joslin Diabetes Center and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The Allen family currently takes up residence in Coral Gables, in an affluent part of Miami. With Shannon in the lead, the family opened Grown, a Miami restaurant that offers healthy and organic food options. The restaurant was inspired by Ray’s NBA diet, which was prepared mostly by Shannon herself. Grownis currently thriving and expanding, and they’re inspiring the locals to eat healthier and exercise more. Ray, along with the rest of the family, would also make appearances on Shannon’s show, The Pregame Meal.It’s definitely a special treat for Shannon’s fans, and it’s gotten Ray’s fans to tune in as well.

So, he wrote and published a book. He’s kept busy with the causes that he’s passionate about. He’s been occupied with his restaurant business, and he’s also spending more time with his children and his wife. What else has Ray been up to since he put the basketball down?

Retirement

Ever since he retired, Allen has spent quite a bit of time interviewing various media channels to talk about his exit from the Boston Celtics. It makes sense considering the dynasty that he was a part of back then, and how loudly that dynasty came crashing. Everyone who knows basketball knows about Boston’s Big Three, and Allen’s departure sparked a lot of rumors that he’s just now addressing. It isn’t easy on his part. He’s found success on another team, and he’s claimed that he was partly to blame for what happened between him and his teammates. We can imagine that the public will eventually stop asking questions about it all, especially since his book answers many questions. For now, he’s spending his time in front of the camera, on radio, and on print simply clearing the air and clearing his name.

One other thing that Ray Allen is doing is simply just enjoying his retirement. According to this interview, Allen has absolutely no plans to get back into playing basketball. After he announced his retirement, there were a few offers to get back into the court, but none of them were attractive enough to actually pull Allen in. The fact that he’s already put in 18 years into the game added to his decision to stay retired. Even though Allen is still in the best shape, he’s gotten significantly older. Training takes more work out of him, and he believes that he’s just done his time.

Because of how competitive he is, Allen could never see himself in a mentoring position. He will always be a basketball player at heart; if there were anything about basketball that he’d rather do, it would be shooting the ball. This means that we’ll probably never see Ray Allen shooting hoops for the NBA again. If you wanted to see Allen, you’d probably have to drive by his restaurant in Miami, or you can probably tune in to his wife’s cooking show. Otherwise, you might find better luck spotting Ray Allen on a golf course somewhere in Florida, enjoying the sun and the endless amount of hours he has to just live the rest of his life while enjoying his family.