50 Greatest Basketball Players Ever - 31 to 40 on our Best NBA Players list

#39 Ray Allen

San Antonio Spurs v Miami Heat - Game 6

Career per-game averages: 18.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.2 blocks

Shooting splits: 45.2% from the field, 40% on 3-pointers, 89.4% on free throws

Accolades: 2-time NBA Champion (2008, 2013), All-NBA Second Team (2005), All-NBA Third Team (2001), 10-time All Star (2000-2002, 2004-2009, 2011)

Records:

The all-time leader in 3-pointers made in the NBA regular season as well as playoffs, Ray Allen's legacy as a first-ballot Hall of Famer was set the moment he set an NBA Finals record for most 3-pointers scored in a game in Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals.

Drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves before being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a draft-night trade, Allen used the first 6 years of his career to build his resume as one of the best two-way players in the league. Despite averaging great numbers from his second season onwards, Allen was only selected for the All-Star Game in his 4th NBA season.

He marked the festivities with a win in the 3-point Shootout Challenge during his second All-Star season. The Bucks made it to the Conference Finals and took the Philadelphia 76ers to 7 games in the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals.

But despite Allen's elite two-way play, the Bucks failed to make the playoffs in the 2001-02 season. A fallout with coach George Karl in the 02-03 season meant that he got traded to the Seattle Supersonics in February 2003.

The best years of his career were spent with the Sonics there, as he averaged 24.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game during his time there. But his failure to find playoff success with a franchise that couldn't surround him with adequate talent led Allen to demand a trade, which sent him to the Boston Celtics to team up with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in 2007.

A title and another Finals appearance and a Conference Finals appearance done, Allen moved on to the final phase of his career as largely a spot-up shooter with the Miami Heat, winning another NBA title after hitting the greatest clutch shot in league history and making another Finals series in the final season of his career (2013-14).

Allen set a league record for most 3-pointers in a regular season campaign with 269 in the 2005-06 season, a record that has since been broken by Steph Curry several times over.

Shuttleworth is probably the NBA's second greatest shooter of all time behind Curry. His shooting form is a work of art - a motion that youngsters all over the world need to study in detail and copy in order to be good shooters. He also ranks 6th on the All-Time list of players with the highest free throw percentage.

Never an outspoken player, Allen was one of the best on- and off-court role models followed by youngsters in the USA - his movie debut as Jesus Shuttleworth in the late 90s played a large part in that. Allen has left behind a legacy as one of the most accomplished players in league history.