Recently, former Miami Heat guard Ray Allen traveled north to attend the Boston Celtics jersey retirement ceremony of Kevin Garnett, his former teammate while he was in Beantown.
However, Allen skipped jury duty to do so, and now he has been hit with a penalty.
“Ray Allen, the NBA Hall of Famer who starred for the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, took center stage on a very different kind of court Wednesday,” wrote Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald.
“Allen, dressed in a dark suit and tie, was ordered to appear in the Miami courtroom of U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke for failing to show up after he was selected as a juror for a deadly carjacking trial. It started without him last week and ended Tuesday with guilty verdicts against a South Florida man accused of fatally shooting the car’s driver.
“Cooke called a foul on the 19-year NBA veteran, 10-time all-star and two-time league champion, telling him he had disrespected the court and his fellow jurors for failing to fulfill his duty on the 12-person federal jury.
“Cooke also ordered Allen, 46, to donate $1,000 to a charity of his choice, noting in an order that ‘no man or woman is above performing that civic duty.'”
Allen signed with the Heat in 2012 after five seasons and one NBA championship ring with the Celtics. In his first season with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and crew, he hit arguably the greatest clutch shot in NBA Finals history to send Game 6 into overtime, where the Heat prevailed.
“Mr. Allen’s actions in failing to appear for jury duty are both baffling and disconcerting,” Cooke wrote in her show-cause order.
Were it not for that 3-pointer, Miami would’ve likely lost the contest and the title to the San Antonio Spurs.
Instead, it went on to claim Game 7 and its second straight world championship.
When Allen left the Celtics, Garnett and some of his teammates were offended, as they claimed that Allen did so without paying his respects to them.
It started a years-long feud between Allen and Garnett, two Hall of Famers who should’ve been brothers for life after winning the 2008 NBA title together.
But recently, Garnett became a bigger man by letting go of his hard feeling for Allen.
Allen was also in the news for a better reason lately, when Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry broke his all-time record for career 3-pointers made.
Allen attended the game where Curry surpassed him, and the two embraced in an emotional and heartwarming moment.
