The fact that Ray Allen is now playing with his third NBA team shouldn’t surprise us. The reality is that he has spent most of his life traveling.

Walter Ray Allen was born on July 20, 1975 in Merced, California, and was the third of five children of Walter and Flora Allen. Walter was a welding specialist with the Air Force, so the family moved around like they were on wheels, even going overseas to England, before landing in Dalzell, South Carolina, where Ray attended high school in Hillcrest. High.

Ray, a born athlete, was motivated by many factors to improve at basketball, from his first growth spurt at age 10 when he first discovered he had the gift to being kept out of the gym at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina during not being at least 16 years old despite being bigger and better than most of the players there. But there was an even greater motivation and a very difficult decision on the horizon.

After his junior stint at Hillcrest, he and his longtime girlfriend, Rosalind Ramsey, found out they were about to have a baby. By proving his ability to make the right decision early, he passed a test that many men fail: he decided to support his family. Knowing that it would take a college education to do so, he worked hard at his game for a scholarship. Arrangements were made, and Rosalind and the baby would stay with his parents until he graduated, then they were his responsibility.

So once again the traveler took the road, first to Connecticut, then to Milwaukee and the NBA, then to Sydney in 2000 to win a gold medal, then in 2003 to Seattle, and now Boston is home after. that he was traded there this offseason to join two other perennial All-Stars, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. He is the second leading 3-point shooter of all time, behind only Reggie Miller.

He also continues to do the right thing, establishing the Ray of Hope Foundation to help underprivileged children stay on track to find their dreams through sports and community programs.

Ray Allen remains, as always, one of the good guys overall. The cynical and satirical online newspaper “The Onion” even published a story about him titled “Professional Athlete Praised for Being a Decent Human Being.” And that’s saying something.