BOSTON — Quick NBA Finals debate: Would you rather have Ray Allen’s career or Derek Fisher’s? They entered the league together as first-round picks in the 1996 draft, Allen as the All-American from powerful Connecticut, Fisher an unheralded player from lesser-known Arkansas-Little Rock.
Allen has gone on to make eight all-star appearances, win an Olympic gold medal, become one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in NBA history and earn fame by starring in Spike Lee’s “He Got Game.” Fisher is a modest scorer and has never been an all-star.
Fisher owns three NBA championship rings. Allen has none.
Not so clear-cut, is it? Allen is the better player, but hold off for now on calling him a great. Same with Boston teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, who also have come up ringless in otherwise stellar careers.
The three finally got their first chance in these NBA Finals. But do they need to win the series — or maybe multiple ones — to earn the place in NBA history that their stats seem to warrant?
“Depends which club you’re talking about,” Kobe Bryant said.
“Are you talking about the Jordan-Magic club? If you want to get in that club, then you have to win. The other club, you don’t have to win. Depends what club you want to get into, the 21-and-over or the 18-and-under.”
Bryant’s spot is secure, having won three titles from 2000-02. He’d move up a rung on the ladder by claiming yet another as the only megastar on his team; he shared the role with Shaquille O’Neal then.
Champions are viewed differently in the NBA — especially when they played for the Celtics or Lakers.
It has been tough for Boston’s new Big Three. Garnett is criticized for getting out of the first round only once in Minnesota. Pierce is a Celtic who isn’t a champion, and he all he has to do is look up to know what that means.
“All the retired members up on the banner, all of them except one has a ring. So I think so, man, in order to be great, in order to be a legend, you have to win a championship,” Pierce said.
