Allen, Tony

Anthony Allen (born January 11, 1982 in Chicago, Illinois), commonly referred to as Tony Allen, is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics in the NBA. A swingman, he can play as a guard or forward.[3]
Contents
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* 1 Early career
* 2 NBA career
o 2.1 Shooting incident
o 2.2 2006-07 injury
* 3 Personal
* 4 Notes
* 5 External links

[edit] Early career

Allen played competitively at Chicago's Crane High School, where he was a basketball standout. At Crane Allen played alongside future Celtics prospect Will Bynum.[4] A 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), 213 lb (97 kg) shooting guard, Allen spent his freshman year (2000-01) playing for Butler County College in El Dorado, Kansas, where he averaged 16.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 steals, going on to being named Jayhawk West Conference Freshman of the Year.[5] During his sophomore year (2001-02) at Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel, Illinois, he led his team to 32-6 overall record and fourth place at the NJCAA championships.[5] For his final two college seasons (2002-2004), Allen transferred to Oklahoma State University (OSU), where he was named the national junior-college transfer of the year by collegeinsider.com,[4] and cited by college basketball commentator Dick Vitale as one of the top three junior college transfers during his junior season.[4] He was named the Big 12 Player of the Year his senior year, after averaging 16 points per game and leading the Cowboys to the Final Four. Allen became the first player in OSU history to score 1,000 career points in just two seasons.[5] He graduated Oklahoma State with a degree in education. After graduating, he declared himself ready for the 2004 NBA Draft.

[edit] NBA career

Allen was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 25th overall pick of the 2004 NBA Draft. In his rookie season in 2004-05 he averaged 6.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, and ranked 3rd in the league in steals per 48 minutes, with 2.89. He was selected to play for the rookies in the Got Milk? Rookie Challenge during All-Star Weekend, along with fellow Celtics rookie Al Jefferson.

[edit] Shooting incident

Allen's successful rookie season was marred during the 2005 off-season, when he was charged with aggravated battery stemming from an altercation that escalated into the non-fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man outside a restaurant in Chicago in August 2005. Although he was not a suspect in the shooting, Allen was accused of breaking another man's left eye socket.[6] He spent two nights in jail, but was not implicated in the shooting. Due to this incident and a rather severe right knee injury that Allen had suffered prior to the shooting, Allen missed much of the first half of the 2005-06 season. On April 24, 2007, the charges against Allen were dropped in a Chicago court.[6]

[edit] 2006-07 injury

On January 10, 2007, in the final minutes of a Celtics loss to the Indiana Pacers, during the 2006-07 season, Allen suffered a debilitating knee injury as he landed awkwardly after an uncontested slam dunk attempt after the whistle was blown,[7] tearing both the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL).[8] Allen underwent a successful ACL reconstructive surgery on January 13 at New England Baptist Hospital[9] and was sidelined for the rest of the season.[7] He was averaging 11.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.48 steals in 33 games.[10] He made a fast return to the court for his type of knee injury only nine months later during the following preseason, even though not at full strength.[11] However, the explosiveness he displayed prior to the injury was noted as "sorely lacking".[11]

[edit] Personal

In his spare time, Tony Allen enjoys listening to music,[5] and is considered somewhat of a music "connoisseur" by his Celtic teammates. He also frequently assists the Celtics in charity work in and around the Boston area. Allen was born to Ella Allen, and he has two sisters, Ebony and Dominique, and a brother, Ryan.[4][5]