The star of He Got Game says he wants to do more acting work once his NBA career comes to an end. Ray Allen—whose Miami Heat teammates refer to him as “Jesus” when he’s on a hot streak—has his eyes set on Hollywood when he stops playing basketball. Per Fox Sports: “You never know,’ the Miami Heat guard said about whether he ever could win an Oscar. ‘Crazier things have happened.’ Allen, 37, still has a few years left in the NBA. But whenever he retires he plans to become an actor. ‘Oh, yes,’ Allen said when asked if wants to act. ‘It’s just something that’s going to keep me busy and something that can challenge you and keep you focused on a daily basis.’ Allen has Hollywood experience. He gained acclaim for playing a major role alongside Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s ‘He Got Game.’ Allen, who starred as basketball player Jesus Shuttlesworth, filmed the movie following his rookie year of 1996-97 and it came out in 1998. Since then, though, his only acting credit has been a lesser role in the 2001 flop ‘Harvard Man’ in which he also was cast as a basketball player. ‘Basketball has just taken precedent,’ Allen said. ‘I haven’t been able to find the time. That took my whole summer (of 1997 after his Milwaukee Bucks had failed to make the playoffs). Now, I’ve been playing in the playoffs. Mostly, you go into June and that time is so limited.’ […] ‘(Leo) DiCaprio, he’s a basketball fan,’ said Allen. ‘He’s a Lakers fan from growing up in L.A. I was hanging out with him in Vegas, and he definitely told me to keep trying and keep going. A lot of people have told me that I should keep going.’ For ‘He Got Game,’ Allen was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Male Performance. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that Allen ‘is that rarity, an athlete who can act.’”
(H/T: TBJ)
