Milwaukee Bucks: Ray Allen’s greatest moments as a Buck

The birth of Jesus Shuttlesworth

Yes, this doesn’t exactly pertain to his on-court Bucks career, but Allen’s performance as Jesus Shuttlesworth in Spike Lee’s basketball drama, He Got Game, was filmed and released during the infancy of Allen’s NBA career.

Co-starring alongside legendary actor Denzel Washington, Allen’s role as Shuttlesworth gave birth to one of the many nicknames he was known by from fans, and one that still follows him well after he officially called it a day in November of 2016.

With that said, it’s a role that Allen may not have ended up portraying, if not for many other circumstances coming to the fore before the movie’s filming during the summer months in 1997. In fact, Lee reportedly had cast a wide net of both NBA and amateur players who he had in mind to play the fictional phenom, the top of it being Kobe Bryant, who ultimately passed on the part to focus on his game that offseason.

It was Lee’s recruiting of Allen during an early March duel between the Bucks and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden that planted the seed for the 10-time All-Star to pursue the role, despite not having acted before, as Allen recalled to Aaron Dodson of The Undefeated earlier this year:

"“Spike says, ‘Hey, I’m doing a movie. I’d love for you to audition for it,’ ” said the now-retired Allen, 42, a 2018 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee. “I gave him my information … but didn’t know if it was going to amount to anything.” A month later, when the Bucks failed to advance to the playoffs, Allen took up Lee on his offer and met with him in New York. “He told me, ‘I want you to audition for the lead role, but if you don’t get it, you may possibly get [another] role in the movie.’ ” Allen had never acted a single day in his life. “I told him I’d love to try my hand.”"

After Lee offered the part to him a few months later, which he says “he couldn’t say no to,” Allen looked to lock down the tricks of the trade for eight hours a day for five days a week over a two month span with the help of an acting coach.

In the end, the results worked well in Allen’s favor as his performance was well regarded in the eyes of many. In his review of the film upon its release, the late, great film critic Roger Ebert called Allen “a rarity, an athlete who can act.”

That’s some high praise, especially for someone who hadn’t done such a thing before in his life before that point.