Hours after 18-year NBA professional Ray Allen announced his retirement, his former coach, Erik Spoelstra, was already nostalgic for a player he called truly one of a kind. The Miami Heat coach didn't have to be prompted to tell one Allen story after another.
SPOELSTRA'S ADMIRATION BEGAN before he ever met the player, with extra practice.
In the late 2000s, when the Heat were due to play Allen's Celtics, Spoelstra kicked off every practice preparing the Heat for Allen's "Oh s---" moments. Those ones in which Allen would somehow, even though everyone was waiting for it, catch the defense blinking for a half a second and move into a different spot as if he was teleporting.