Ray Allen and the 3-Point Crown

Congrats to Ray Allen who became the NBA all-time leader in 3-pointers during Thursday's game against the Lakers. Celtics fans like me are very excited for Ray but yet during the game I kept having two thoughts.

First - Ray Allen's real first name is Walter. Ray is his middle name. Why doesn't he use Walter?

Secondly - I couldn't help but wonder what Pistol Pete Maravich's career would have been like if the 3-pointer existed from the day he joined the NBA. There's no doubt in my mind that if the 3-pointer existed for the NBA in 1970 and if Maravich had the benefit of modern medicine for his knees that he would have set a mark that would have been tough to touch. Consider that the 3-pointer didn't exist in the NBA until Pete Maravich's final season when he was at the end of the line and broken down. He hit 10-15 of his 3's that season for a .667 shooting percentage. For his career Ray Allen has hit .398 percent of his 3's. Think about that .667 shooting percentage for a minute. I know it's a small sample size but holy crap.

Also - Ray Allen was not the only player chasing a milestone Thursday. With his 15 points Paul Pierce passed Bob Pettit for 36th place on all-time NBA scoring list.