Ray and Rashard, Reunited

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NBA

Ray and Rashard, Reunited

After leaving behind an almost-great team 10 years ago, Heat veterans and old friendsRay Allen and Rashard Lewis find themselves competing again for the championships

that eluded them in Seattle.

BY JON A T HA N A B RA M SON JUNE 5, 2014

Sam Presti looked even more boyish than usual. The 30-year-old Presti had been Seattles general

manager for less than a month when the fork-in-the-road 2007 draft approached. The warm memories

of the Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp SuperSonics teams had long since dissipated in Seattle. Presti was

at the helm of a rudderless franchise, with an aging superstar, a free-agent All-Star who would

command a mega-deal, a valuable pick in an intriguing draft, and little else. There was more certainty

about the rumors that the team would be moved to Oklahoma City than there was about the future of

the roster. Presti had made a quick reputation for himself in the league, working his way up through

San Antonios front office. Clayton Bennett, the head of the teams new ownership group and a former

principal owner of the Spurs, brought Presti onboard. But that is not why [Presti] got the job,

Bennett told the Associated Press. He got the job because of who he is, how he does things He is

thoughtful. He is methodical. He is measured.

Seattle owned the second pick in a draft that many predicted featured two franchise-altering players in

Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. Portland, of course, took Oden. News broke before Seattles selection
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that the organization had traded Ray Allen, the purest of shooters, whose rhythmic line-drive jumper

rarely kissed the rim. A crowd of nearly 2,000 ticket holders had convened at Seattle Center for a draft

party, many donning Allen jerseys. He had been hope in the dark days. Now, the organization would

truly be starting over. Many of the assembled fans were in shock when Allen was dealt. They booed the

trade, only to rally moments later and applaud the selection of Durant, bright-eyed and dressed in a

Longhorns burnt-orange shirt and tie. To make the decision to move a player and a person like

Ray Allen was tremendously difficult, Presti told reporters. Boston really pursued this. What started

as a smaller conversation became fulfilled. Their pursuit was impeccable.

Bennett was right. Presti was thoughtful, rational, and methodical. Today, the thought that he could be

swayed by another franchises dogged pursuit seems laughable. Seattle also sent a pick that turned into

Glen Davis in the deal for the rights to fifth pick Jeff Green, Wally Szczerbiak, and Delonte West.

Rashard Lewis, Allens running mate in Seattle, watched news of the deal break on ESPN. They had

paired to bring Seattle its last, fleeting glimpse of quality basketball during the 2004-05 season. But

head coach Nate McMillan left the subsequent year, and everything crumbled afterward. It was like a

parade of losers after Nate, said Steve Kelley, a longtime columnist for the Seattle Times. Lewis was

the free agent. He had wanted to return to Seattle. Its where he got started the franchise had given

him his first shot when team after team bypassed him in the first round. The city transformed him

from an overgrown high school kid into an NBA star. But Allens imminent departure meant a future

that Lewis wanted no part of.

That was home, Lewis said. That was my second home. But then when Im watching the draft, I see

Ray Allen gets traded to the Boston Celtics. That opened my eyes up. Wow. Maybe this team is starting

all the way over.

Presti engineered the deal with the future in mind. But even he had little idea just how much the trade

would shape the NBA landscape. Allen teamed with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to win an NBA titlein Boston. Lewis signed a whopping $118 million deal in Orlando, where he helped the Magic to a

Finals appearance against the Lakers. Seattle, meanwhile, sank deeper into the basement of the

Western Conference. The team inherited a likable, rising star in Durant, but a culture of negativity

seeped in. The dumbing down of the Sonics had already begun, said Kevin Calabro, the longtime

broadcast voice of the team. The gutting of the Sonics, the trades the [lack] of the media exposure

to the players, fans not knowing who these guys were, not identifying with them. The rhetoric then

began about the need for a new building from new ownership. It unraveled quickly.

When it rocked, few arenas swayed like the intimate KeyArena. In the late 90s, Gary Payton, Shawn

Kemp, and head coach George Karl combined to field one of the eras best teams. With a swarming andsuffocating defense and a rim-rattling, high-paced offense, the team eventually challenged the Bulls in

the 96 Finals. But everything falls apart. Kemp, disgruntled over a contract the team gave to alleged

Shaq stopper Jim McIlvaine, forced a trade to Cleveland before the 1997-98 season. Karl fled for

Milwaukee a year later. Payton hung on for years, an ambassador and a remnant of those golden years.

But at 34, and in the final year of his contract, the Glove was traded to Milwaukee in 2003 in a

multiplayer deal centered on Ray Allen. The exchange reunited Payton with Karl and ended his nearly

13 years with the organization. An era had come to a close. It was a real controversial deal in Seattle,

said Rick Sund, the teams general manager. Keep in mind, I didnt have this history with Gary
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because I had been there maybe a year or two. But Gary was starting a little bit of a decline, as players do

when they get older. Ray was starting his prime, so I thought it made sense for both clubs.

Allen was proven, with his best days ahead of him. He was 27 and his monastic dedication to practice

and ritual had already become legend. His habits made him a perennial All-Star. I was slightly

disappointed, because at the time, [Bucks teammate] Tim Thomas was on the trading block, Allen

recalled. So everybody was talking about how he was the hot name most guys were talking about teams

were trying to land and I was supposedly untouchable. I was disappointed that I was being traded

because I had to change everything that I had to do, uprooting my whole life. But at the same time, I was

excited because I had always loved Seattle. It was a new change for me and I needed change Seattle

was something that I was very much looking forward to.

Rashard Lewis was an impressionable 23-year-old at the time. [Payton] was a franchise player that

pretty much took them to the Finals with George Karl, a big name in the city, Lewis said. When I saw

him get traded, I said, Wow, I really know the NBA is a business. You can be here one day and be traded

the next. Thats what I thought when I saw the expression on his face when he found out he was

traded. Still, Lewis knew Allens pedigree. He could shoot the hell out of the ball more than

anything, Lewis said. From watching him play when he was at Connecticut, and when he was with

Milwaukee with him, Sam Cassell, Glenn Robinson. They battled Philadelphia in the Eastern

Conference finals. I definitely remember Ray for that but a lot of people remember him as Jesus

Shuttlesworth from making that movie.

While Lewis knew all about Allen, Allen knew little about his new young teammate. I knew that he had

gotten drafted out of high school, Allen said. He was pretty quiet. I knew he could shoot the ball. And

that was pretty much it. But Lewis had a memorable NBA arrival, for the wrong reason.

A Houston native, Rashard Lewis had planned on attending the University of Houston, where he would

team up with his childhood friends. But the university fired Alvin Brooks in 1998, scuttling plans forLewis to attend the school with Brookss son, Alvin III, and others. At the same time, NBA scouts began

attending his games at Alief Elsik High School. With his mother, Juanita Brown, he mulled jumping

straight to the NBA. When he told her that he had decided to declare for the NBA, a jolt shot through

her body. Still, her son had always been humble and dedicated. She had faith that he could make it.

Mother and son attended the 1998 draft in Vancouver, where their hometown Rockets possessed three

first-round picks. David Stern stepped to the podium and read name after name. Houston used

its picks on Michael Dickerson (14), Bryce Drew (16), and Mirsad Turkcan (18). Lewis was

heartbroken. Then more names came, none his. An embarrassed Lewis was the last remaining

prospect in the NBAs green room. As the first round ended, he sat slump-shouldered, distraught.Brown watched her son. She knew he wanted to stay in Houston, but she hoped he would be drafted

elsewhere. He needed a fresh start, a place to become his own man, she thought. But as the draft

continued, she just wanted a team, any team, to take him and end the agony. She looked at her sons

face and knew they shared the same frustration and pain from not knowing. Lewis had always been

quiet. He talked when he was ready to talk. Otherwise, there was no use in initiating the conversation.

At one point, Lewis rose and left the green room. He silently sobbed in the bathroom.

The Sonics finally ended the anguish by selecting Lewis 32nd overall, the third pick of the second
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round. Well, mom, Im going to have to make the team, Lewis said he told her. First round is

different from the second round nothing is guaranteed.

Dwane Casey, then a Seattle assistant, remembers the disappointment he saw in both Lewis and Brown

when they arrived in Seattle the following day. Casey told Lewis that it doesnt matter where a player is

drafted, that some of the leagues best had slipped past the first round, while some of the worst had

gone first overall. What mattered is what he did from that point on. Every time I walked outside, it was

raining, Lewis said. I was a teenager at the time, on a team with a bunch of grown men and Im trying

to not step on any toes and just stay out of their way and come in and do my job.

The lockout helped Lewis. The delay allowed him to play in pickup games with the teams veterans. He

still remembers a wakeup call he got from Payton when he arrived a few minutes late to a game. The

driver had gotten lost. Payton berated him, telling the rookie that he had to be a professional and a

professional meant having no excuses. Payton, incidentally, figured into the moment when Casey

realized Lewis would develop into a quality NBA player. He didnt say two words to anybody, Casey

said. He was really quiet and introverted at the time. But Ill never forget, he picked Gary Paytons

pocket in a scrimmage one day and he goes down and Gary tries to block the shot and, I mean, he dunks

all over Gary, and then he yells. You know how you stand up and scream after you dunk on somebody?

That day is when we knew he had arrived and I knew he was going to be special.

Seattle continued to flounder, but Lewis grew stronger and more confident each year. The lockout-

shortened season preserved his body he played in just 20 games his rookie season, but in all 82 the

next. From day one, when he went up for a shot, it was always a soft, controlled finish, said Bob

Weiss, a Seattle assistant when Lewis broke into the league. But you could never call any plays for him

early on. Then hed begin to score and he got to the point where he was scoring fairly well, but if you

called something for him, then hed never score. And then, of course, he got over that and became a

strong, go-to guy for the Sonics.

In 2000, the SuperSonics replaced Paul Westphal, George Karls successor, with Nate McMillan.

McMillan had come to embody the Sonics during his playing days almost as much as Payton. He was a

pass-first guard who spent all 12 of his NBA seasons in Seattle. McMillan retired from playing in 1998,

but remained with the team as an assistant. He was Mr. Sonic, and although a playoff win eluded him,

he began to lay the framework for a brighter future by the time Allen arrived.


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They spoke one day on the team bus.

By then, Rashard Lewis had seen enough of Ray Allens routine to be curious. Every shot was game

speed, game conditions, Weiss said. I never just saw [Allen] dribble over casually and take a shot.

Everything was always working on improving the quickness and the accuracy.

Lewis wanted to know how to develop a routine for himself. I could tell he watched and he was still

trying to figure out who he was and what he was going to be in this league, Allen said. Everything I did

was very routine and very ritualistic when it came to playing basketball. What time I got to the practice

facility. What time I got to the arena before games. I think having a routine is important for

everybody, starting off with children, because youre trying to build habits in your life and you want

positivity. You want people to do things for you. You want greatness. Consistency is all about

greatness.

Lewis was living a dream flush with cash, freedom, and free time, and loaded with talent. He had a

big career in front of him, but he knew he had to manage it. Allen remembers how Lewis approached

learning how to sustain the dream.

Look, I want to make the type of money that you make, a guy at your level, the type of money that you

guys make, Allen recalls Lewis telling him. I want to be on that level. As always, Allen preached

dedication. Soon enough, I would get to an arena at a certain time before games and Rashard would be

right behind me, maybe 15-20 minutes, and he started building his habits, his routines, Allen said.You could just see him putting it into effect, because he changed. He stopped going out as much.

Allen had the same effect on much of the young team. At home, I used to meet him at the arena three

and a half, four hours early before the game to get shots up, said Antonio Daniels, a guard who joined

Seattle in 2003. Attitude reflects leadership. He basically showed what you need to do to be successful.

He was the first one in the arena every day. Even when I tried to beat him, I couldnt.

We would make a huddle around him and listen to everything he had to say about how you take care of


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yourself off the court, as well as being prepared on the court, Lewis said. He was our storyteller.

When Allen preached, Lewis listened. What Allen did, Lewis copied. Allen cycled throughout the city

on his bike, building the muscles in his legs. Lewis purchased a bike and took it to Houston in the

offseason to do the same. Allen had a boat that he occasionally took around Mercer Island. Lewis

bought one and did the same. Their families met and merged. Juanita became close with Flo, Rays

mother. The families vacationed together. The mothers routinely talked on the phone during

halftimes, discussing how their sons were faring and critiquing their games.

After an embarrassing 30-point blowout loss to the Clippers to open the 2004-05 season, the Sonics

started the campaign at a point of crisis. The roster was loaded with lame ducks. McMillans contract

was expiring. Sunds contract was expiring. The trainer was a free agent, Daniels said. Everybody

was a free agent.

There were so many reasons for us to fail as a team, especially with the NBA being such an egotistical

business, Daniels continued. So its almost like you have 11 free agents, everybodys going to be out

for themselves. McMillan called a team meeting and banned anyone from talking about free agency,

himself included, during the season. Nobody mentioned their contract throughout the rest of theseason and everybody began to play for each other and everything slowly but surely started to fall into

place. The Sonics reeled off nine straight wins after the drubbing by the Clippers.

Nate and I had talked about it before the season started: This team is in a position to make a move and

this is a nice common denominator for everybody, Sund said. So it wasnt one of those issues where

people were talking about free agency and what were you going to do and what have you, because Nate

was a free agent at the end of the year, so it was kind of a common denominator with the whole club.

Allen and Lewis became a dependable scoring tandem. Rashard, at that time, he was a matchup

nightmare, Daniels said. He was 6-10. He could step out and shoot it and then you put a smaller guyon him and post him up. Rays Ray, probably the best pure shooter of all time. Daniels and Luke

Ridnour provided stability at point guard. Rookie Nick Collison bolstered the frontcourt, and even

Jerome James, for a while, looked like an NBA player.1

1.Jerome James, I mean give me a break, Kelley said. I dont remember how many times I remember Jerome

taking a 15-foot jumper and Nate yelling at him, Jerome, theres a reason youre open. That guy played five games in

his career and look at how much money he made out of it.

The Sonics won the Northwest Division in 2004-05 and bested the Sacramento Kings in five games.

Buoyed by Jamess surprising play, it was the teams first postseason series win since Karl had

departed. Seattle challenged the Spurs in the conference semifinals despite seldom being at full

strength during the series. San Antonio opened with a statement win, 103-81 in Game 1, which Allen

left in the second quarter with an ankle sprain. Allen returned in the second game, but San Antonio

repeated the result. Seattle pulled off a narrow victory in the third game, but Lewis suffered a toe

sprain that forced him to sit out the rest of the series. The teams traded wins the next two games and

the lead in Game 6. Tim Duncan banked home a shot with half a second left, giving San Antonio a 98-96

edge.


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With the series and their season on the line, Daniels inbounded the ball to Allen, who shot over

Duncans head from the left corner. The shot caromed off the rim. I didnt really see the basket,

Allen said afterward, stifling his tears. I just tried to get the ball over Tims hands. Thats a shot Ill

probably think about for a long time this summer.

San Antonio went on to defeat Detroit in seven games to win the NBA championship. The future still

seemed bright for Seattle, but it would be a complicated summer. It was impossible to bring everybody

back, and then with the success you have, it allows a number of players and even Nate to have suitors,

even me, Sund said. So you look at it and say, Its going to be a difficult summer because were going

to have to make hard choices. The success we had was great, but the challenges we had in the

offseason were difficult.

It was only one game, but it was everything to a roster on the brink of dissolution.

[Allen] had a corner jumper in Game 6 that he never misses that he missed. So they lost Game 6 and

who knows what would have happened in a Game 7? Kelley said. That was the beginning of the end.

That jump shot was the last playoff game here and really the last hurrah for the Sonics.

True to his word, McMillan didnt discuss his expiring contract throughout Seattles surprising run.

Then Mr. Sonic left the Sonics, wooed by Portland, Seattles Pacific Northwest rival. It was a shock to

me, Calabro said. Unfortunately, there were some of us that took it for granted that Nate would come

back.

McMillans decision cast a shadow over the franchise. I think Nate thought that the Sonics werent

the Sonics anymore, Kelley said. They werent his Sonics. They werent committed like he was and

like George Karl was and even through all his faults, the previous owner, Barry Ackerley, was. The

franchise, for whatever reason, was run on a shoestring. [New owner] Howard Schultz being the main

reason.

Casey left that same offseason to become Minnesotas head coach. It was a double whammy, Calabro

said. It gutted our coaching staff.

The Sonics tapped longtime assistant Bob Weiss to replace McMillan at the behest of Allen and Lewis.

Weiss had joined Seattles coaching staff in 1994, serving under Karl, Westphal, and McMillan. He was

a Sonics mainstay.

He was the antithesis of Nate, Kelley said. Bob was something you cant be anymore. Maybe Gregg

Popovich can, but very few coaches in the NBA now can be well-rounded human beings and have lives

outside of basketball, but Bob did. Bob didnt take losses seriously. Every loss that Nate had, he tookpersonally. The postgame press conferences werent fun. There was no joking. With Bob Weiss, he

practically did magic tricks after losses. Its like, Coach, dont you realize what just happened? This

was a team that needed discipline. It needed leadership and it lost it with Nate and it lost it with

Antonio and it didnt get anything in return.

Daniels had signed with Washington in the summer of 2005. Thats what makes it so difficult now in

the NBA, Daniels said. Guys change teams so much. If its not a trade, its free agency and so many

other things that get in the way of chemistry. Thats why the San Antonio Spurs have stood out for so


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long, because they do a great job of keeping their core together at all costs.

Daniels had averaged a career-best 11.2 points for Seattle in 2004-05. We thought Luke [Ridnour] was

ready at the time, Weiss said. A.D. wanted a four-year contract and the doctors were saying his knees

were kind of iffy that season for us, but he finished most of the games and we thought we were ready to

hand that over to someone else. But in retrospect, we were not.

The next season, the Sonics regressed beyond recognition, becoming less super by the moment. Weisswas fired after the team started 13-17, replaced by Bob Hill. Hill salvaged the season with the help of

Earl Watson and Chris Wilcox. He summoned Allen into his office after the team finished the season

35-47 and thanked him for continuing to play hard. You could have easily taken the rest of the season

off, Hill remembers telling Allen. We werent going to the playoffs.

But were trying to create a foundation for the following year and I have to be a part of that, Allen

responded, according to Hill.

Thats Ray right there, Hill said. That explains him. He wasnt going to take any time off. He had

bone spurs in his ankle. He could have sat out. I dont think anyone would have criticized him for it.

Hill also met with Lewis, whom he had noticed would often pull down a rebound, take two or three

steps upcourt, and pick up his dribble. He put Lewis through a series of dribbling drills over the next

two days. You can dribble, Hill told Lewis. Youre just afraid to dribble under pressure and have the

confidence to do it. Lewis promised that he would work extensively on ballhandling over the summer

and Hill vowed to use him in more pick-and-rolls the following season. His second year was

outstanding, Hill said. I think it probably helped him get the contract he got.

Nearly everything else about the organization was in disarray. Schultz, the Starbucks tycoon,

threatened to sell or move the team when its lease with KeyArena expired in 2010. NBA commissioner

David Stern called the aging arena the leagues worst. It was cozy, but lacked the bells and whistles of

newer arenas across the league. Schultz sought money from the state Legislature for improvements

after MLB and the NFL had recently landed state-of-the art sporting venues. The Legislature dismissed

the request and the City Council questioned why Schultz would front just $18 million of his own money

into a proposed $220 million renovation plan.

Bennett headed an ownership group from Oklahoma City that purchased the Sonics for $350 million

in 2006, stating he intended to keep the franchise in Seattle. Schultz had bought the franchise just five

years earlier for $200 million.

You have to understand the environment that we were all working in there was difficult, because therewere constant rumors that the team was going to be sold and then the fans got concerned and then once

it was sold, there were constant rumors that it was going to be moved, Hill said. So, that put a lot

more pressure inside the team on both [Allen and Lewis].

Seattle plummeted to 31-51 in 2006-07. Allen and Lewis both missed large chunks of the season with

injuries. Ray drifted a little bit after that and Ray got kind of caught up, Kelley said. There were

some trade rumors and there were some concerns about his knee and could he play anymore and I

think he started playing for himself a lot more than he had the year before. The team had also spent


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years whiffing on draft picks, notably still trying to find that quality big man that had mostly eluded

them ever since McIlvaines signing and Kemps departure. Players like Robert Swift, Johan Petro, and

Mouhamed Sene were little more than projects unprepared for the NBA.

The team just wasnt that good and the teams bench was [full of] 19-year-olds, Hill said. Robert

Swift and Johan Petro and Mickael Gelabale and Mouhamed Sene and the whole crew. We felt the

bench would get good enough, but at that time, they played like 19-year-olds. That put more pressure

on Ray and Rashard to carry the load night in and night out.

A young team on the rise had been destroyed in just two years. It was very sustainable, Allen said.

The problem was that we had an organization that didnt want to sustain it. We could have won for a

few years and bridged the gap to the Kevin Durant years. Were talking about free agency when we left

that year. They traded me [and they had] the number-two pick. They didnt re-sign Rashard. They

didnt re-sign Jerome James. They didnt re-sign Antonio Daniels. They dismantled [the team]

because they didnt expect the success that we had. They didnt build on top of it. They just kind of let it

crumble and then they ended up selling the team.

Soon after, Bennett hired Presti as his general manager, who quickly made a far-reaching move thatwould alter the NBAs superstar constellation.

Ray Allen called Rashard Lewis when he heard the trade rumors. He was trying to decide where he was

going to sign, Allen said. I told him, You might not want to consider signing back because theyre

trading me and this is going to be a whole new team and theyre going to rebuild. We talked. He had to

make a decision, but I was just letting him know that it wasnt going to be me that he was going to see on

his side.

Allen was now firmly on Bostons side. He took the trade in stride, the same way he had with the deal

that brought him to Seattle in the first place. Those situations always work themselves out andwherever we are, thats where were ultimately supposed to be, Allen said. When I get thrust out of

one situation to the next, I just make the best of it and try to figure out how I can make the best out of it.

Again, you get traded, you have to change. We had to move across the country, but we were back on the

East Coast and we were excited about that. Allen teamed with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett,

restoring Bostons glory. The Celtics won their 17th championship in 2008.

At the same time, Lewis had finally matched Allens earning power. The Orlando Magic landed him in a

sign-and-trade deal for $118 million over six years. Many around the league derided the contract. All

Lewis could do was shrug. If my agent calls and tells me he has an awesome deal on the table, am I

supposed to turn it down and say I want less? he said. Its like if somebody comes up to you and offersyou $50 in the right hand and $100 in the left hand for free. What are you going to do? Youre going to

take the $100. Youre not going to settle for the $50. Why settle for the $50 when you can get more?

Lewis was the final puzzle piece on Orlandos roster under Stan Van Gundy, giving the team shooters

who could stretch the floor and grant Dwight Howard operating room inside. Meanwhile, Lewis

rejoiced at Allens championship, as much as an Eastern Conference rival could.


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Allens Celtics and Lewiss Magic met one year later, in the 2009 Eastern Conference semifinals.

Boston could not overcome the absence of an injured Garnett, and Orlando took the hard-fought series

in seven games. Lewis and Allen both played splendidly on opposite sides. I was extremely happy for

him because he had success and I knew where he had come from and he was playing well for his team,

Allen said.

Said Lewis: Not only was it fun to beat the Boston Celtics, but to beat Ray Allen, to top him, to try to

get a championship ring, to go to the Finals. Hed been there. Hes done it before. But I felt like it was

my time. The Magic went on to defeat LeBron Jamess Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals

before succumbing to the Lakers.

For a while, it seemed like that would be Lewiss last shot at a championship. He drew a 10-game

suspension to start the 2009-10 season after testing positive for an elevated testosterone level, a result

of ingesting the supplement DHEA. Lewis said he took the supplement to combat fatigue without

checking with the team or trainers. I went to a supplement store and took some vitamins that

basically had a bad substance in them, Lewis told the Boston Globein 2009.

He was upset about it because he felt that it was an honest mistake that he made, but he knew the rules

were the rules, his mother, Juanita, said. So he just dealt with it and learned a lesson from it.

As Allen and Lewis rose to prominence, Presti gutted Seattles roster. Durant had his choice of shots

and took plenty of them. He would capture Rookie of the Year honors in 2008, but Seattle slumped to a

20-62 record under new coach P.J. Carlesimo. Apathy set in. Allen had been a recognizable face. Sohad Lewis. Who was there now? Francisco Elson?

In November 2007, Bennett announced his intention to move the franchise to Oklahoma City and void

the final two years of the teams lease with KeyArena. He said his group had lost $17 million in its first

season owning the franchise. Bennett had proposed a new arena in the suburb of Renton for $300

million, funded with public money. Everyone, the state Legislature included, viewed it as a laughable

nonstarter.

Bennett said he had kept good faith in trying to keep the team in Seattle, but had reached an


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insurmountable hurdle. Seattle fans believed he never intended to keep the team there, suspicion

backed by emails, secured by city lawyers, between Bennett and his co-owners. The NBA fined Sonics

minority partner Aubrey McClendon $250,000 in August 2007 for telling Oklahoma Citys Journal

Record, We didnt buy the team to keep it in Seattle. We hoped to come here. We know its a little

more difficult financially here in Oklahoma City, but we think its great for the community and if we

could break even wed be thrilled.

In April 2008, owners voted 28-2 in favor of the move. Dallas owner Mark Cuban and Portland owner

Paul Allen were the only ones to vote against relocation. I would say to the fans of Seattle, we very

much appreciate your support, Stern said. We think you have a great city. We think King County is

great and we think that Washington is great and we are very sad that the absence of a firstclass facility,

or even a funded, voted-upon plan for one, wasnt able to be put together by whoevers responsibility it

is, collectively for this day now to occur.

Bennett followed Sterns press conference with one of his own. Well, Im very happy about it, he

said. Im very happy about it. But I must say that I have mixed emotions. I view this on one end as

certainly, number one, as challenging a personal experience and a business experience as Ive ever

been a part of, very complex, very complicated, very dynamic, ever changing, and on one hand I feel

personal disappointment relative to my inability to affect the building of the building, in that I was

convinced we could get it done. But then we had to move on. Its a business.

Ray Allen called his old running mate Rashard Lewis.

It was the summer of 2012 and Allen had decided to go all-in on another championship, splintering the

Celtics, disappointing Garnett, and signing with the Miami Heat. Lewis was also a free agent. His

career was slowly devolving. The Magic had traded him to Washington for Gilbert Arenas, who then

traded Lewis to New Orleans before that team bought out his contract.

Allen knew that Lewis had a couple of suitors.

I heard you were talking to Miami? Allen said he told Lewis. What are you going to do?

I want to win a championship, Lewis said. He mentioned a couple of the interested teams and that

his agent had promised Atlanta that he would visit.

Our wives know each other, Allen responded. Our kids. Your mom knows my mom. Theres a lot

that could happen for us. Not only on the court, but off the court. Id love to reconnect, like in Seattle.

Rashard, let me explain something to you, Allen continued. If you go to Atlanta, thats going toforce Miami to then bring somebody else in to look at them. Cause you may go to Atlanta and then

what if this other guy comes in and he says, Yeah, if I come in, Im signing today? Then youre going to

be on the outside looking in. You dont want to lose out on this opportunity. Youve got to tell your

agent that Im signing with Miami and thats where Im going to be.

I called my agent right after that and [canceled] the [Atlanta] visit, Lewis said. I told him I want to

be in Miami.
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But Allen and Lewis had to adjust after their reunion. Allen, ever the stickler for routine, had to come

off the bench and averaged career lows in points, rebounds, assists, and playing time in his first season

with the Heat. But he evolved, as he had before. He typically closed games for Miami, creating space forLeBron James and Dwyane Wade to slice through the lane. The transition proved more difficult for

Lewis, who averaged only 14.4 minutes in 55 regular-season games.

I would have to go home and swallow my pride every night and wake up every morning, come back to

the gym excited with a happy face because of the fact Im playing with Hall of Fame players like LeBron

James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Ray Allen2, Lewis said. Not only that, we were winning. You

dont want to be a cancer on the team if the chemistry is going well. I had to make sure not to be selfish

individually.

2.We call him Jesus a lot in the locker room, but the funniest thing is when Im sitting at home, relaxing, chilling,

and Im flipping through the channels and He Got Game is on TV, Lewis said. And now that I know him, I just sit

there and laugh through the whole movie. I know Ray as a friend. If I didnt know him, I would be like, Hes a great

actor. But now that I know him and know how he is personally, hes a terrible actor.

Lewis ultimately came to accept his role with the mind-set of staying prepared.

He hasnt had a tough time, Allen said. Hes adjusting very well. Hes not getting the playing time

hes used to, but hes still out there. He enjoys what hes doing. He hasnt had a tough time at all. Its

just a matter of whether you see him on the floor or not.

Last season, Lewis watched solemnly as the Heat teetered on the verge of losing Game 6 and the Finals

to San Antonio.

It felt like the clock was just ticking and you see the people come out with the rope, Lewis said. They

roped the court off because theyre getting ready to set up for the San Antonio Spurs to win an NBA

championship. Im just standing on the sidelines with my hands on my head like, This cant be

happening right now. Theres no way this can be happening.Almost in shock, like my dream is about

to be shattered right in front of me it seemed like everything was going against us, everything was
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going the Spurs way.

But somehow, we got a couple of offensive rebounds and the biggest shot obviously of the night was

when Ray hit that 3-pointer it felt like just a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, like we had new

life and we had another chance.

Miami cemented its second consecutive championship with another thrilling victory over San Antonio

in Game 7. Rashard Lewis was a champion.

I was all over the court, Lewis said. I ripped my pants off on the sideline. I was running around. A lot

of people dont understand that playing in the NBA, the toughest thing is to win an NBA

championship. I was in the NBA 15 years. Id been in the playoffs. Id been in the Finals. But it took me

15 yearsto finally win one.

Lets play the What If? game.

Imagine for a second that Presti never made the deal that sent Allen to Boston. Would Durant be

Durant without having been thrown into the fire so quickly? Would Boston have won another

championship? Would the Magic have made that Finals appearance? Would Dwight Howard still be in

Orlando? Would Allen and Lewis have been able to reconvene in Miami?

There is another alternate reality to consider. With Allen still around, Lewis may have re-signed with

Seattle. A core of prime-years Allen and Lewis and a rookie Durant would have been an intriguing

experiment. Three long, lean shooters, matched together. I did think about it when I was playing in

Orlando, Lewis said. Not the first year, but when they moved to Oklahoma, I started thinking what it

would have been like. You got Kevin Durant. Ray Allen as a shooting guard thatll open it up for him. I

could play 3 or 4. Then they drafted [Russell] Westbrook the following year. Maybe it could have been a

lot of fun times. Wed probably struggle the first year, but things could have turned around pretty

quick. All you can say is, What if?

Would a better Sonics team have created more of an outcry over the pending departure, a voice loud

enough to prompt definitive local action? Honestly, I never thought about that, Daniels said. Thats

a very good question. We would have been very successful, but I dont know what would have come of

that success. I dont know if that would have forced their hand a little bit.

Jason Reid directed Sonicsgate: Requiem for a Team, a 2009 documentary chronicling the history of

the franchise and its relocation. The Allen-Lewis years represent his last good memories of the team.

It wasnt lack of fan support [that caused the teams move], Reid said. Of course when your team is

20-62 and you trade Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis away, attendance is going to wane a little bit, but thatwas at the end when we had an owner who was trying to move the team. We supported our team for

over 40 years, had some of the most passionate, loudest fans in all of basketball. It wasnt the fans that

didnt cheer enough or didnt show up to enough games. It was the NBA who allowed Clay Bennett to

come in, lie to the citizens of Seattle, move the team away.

In retrospect, Presti appears to have made the right decision, methodically and meticulously. He

traded well, drafted skillfully, and built todays Thunder, a championship contender, around Durant.
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going to need you on defense.

Im ready, Lewis replied. Thats one thing I do. All of us guys that arent playing. Were staying

ready.

Sure enough, Lewis drew surprise starts in the Indiana series when Chris Andersen went out with a

thigh injury. The 34-year-old Lewis nailed six 3-pointers in Miamis Game 5 loss to Indiana, keeping

the Heat in the game as LeBron James battled foul trouble. In the Game 6 clincher, Lewis addedanother 13 points and three 3-pointers. The 38-year-old Allen was his steady and reliable self. He

punished Indiana for 16 points in the third game of the series.

We all have to be prepared for that moment, because at the end of the game, the only thing that

matters is winning a championship, Lewis said. Its not about guys getting minutes or scoring 20

points or getting playing time. To me, its about if youve got to make one 3-pointer to win that

championship, we need you to make that one 3-pointer. Whatever it takes.

Ray and Rashard, Reunited

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