Ray Allen With Hair Is The Quarantine Surprise We Weren't Ready For
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Ray Allen. Walter Ray Allen Jr.
Ray Allen. With hair.
That's it. That's the whole story.
Ray Allen with hair.
OK, so technically there's some more, like the details. The future Hall of Famer shared a picture for his current quarantine situation, where he has ... grown some hair.
Have we seen Ray Allen with hair before? Sure. Way back when he was at UConn, from 1993-96? He had hair on his head. Sure.
At his first NBA stop in Milwaukee? Hair. He had hair in Wisconsin.
When he starred in "He Got Game" as Jesus Shuttlesworth? He had hair on the big screen.
But then Ray went to Seattle in 2003, and soon enough, his shiny, smooth head became part of his signature look. He arrived with hair, but shortly thereafter, it was a straight Bic job on top of that dome for Ray. An immaculate scalp became as important an element to Allen as his silky smooth jumper.
Ray Allen, without hair. That is how we knew him.
He famously went to Boston in 2007, along with the equally shiny-headed Kevin Garnett. Together, those two hairless Hall of Famers would join forces with Paul Pierce to deliver a long-awaited championship to Boston.
Look at that thing shine!
It was wonderful. Ray did it all without any hair on his head and with his mom sitting courtside.
Remember Ray's mom? What a nice lady.
Anyways, back to the story at hand: Ray Allen with hair.
As you know, when Ray bounced from Boston to Miami, he didn't bring a single hair with him. No hair made the journey from Boston to Miami, where Ray and his shiny head would resuscitate LeBron's super team and lift them to a championship in a game where thousands of fans in the arena did what thousands of hairs on Ray Allen's head had done years before: They left. As a result, the fans (and the hair) missed out on a front-row seat to Allen's clutch shot to save the Heat in Game 6 vs. the Spurs.
This is how we knew Ray, and this is how we've known Ray for more than 15 years. People who will vote for president or enter the military this year have never known anything but a bald Ray Allen.
Ray. Without hair. Forever and ever. And so it shall be.
Ray finished his time with the Heat in 2014, though he didn't officially retire for a while. He flirted with some comebacks, but even as he pondered a return to basketball, he never publicly considered a return of hair to his head.
That was until he was stuck in his home like the rest of America. During that downtime, Ray must have skipped a few of his personal head shavings. That meticulous shaving routine must have been a near-daily task for Ray. How else could he maintain such an immaculate noggin?
Well, he lapsed a bit on the shaving.
And the end result?
It's Ray Allen.
With hair.
Folks.
Folks!
Folks.
That is Ray Allen.
With hair.
As you can see in the caption, Ray committed to letting his hair grow out naturally "until the 'Rona' kicks rocks."
Allen then challenged his "bald or going bald brothers" to let their hair grow out too.
"Y'all know who you are! Lol," Allen added.
He also tagged LeBron James, among other players.
Boom roasted.
Ray Allen. He's got hair. He's got jokes.
But mostly. He's got hair.
Can you believe it?
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.