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NBA FINALS: LAKERS v CELTICS

June 4, 2008

Ray Allen

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day

RAY ALLEN: I think there's probably more pressure in the earlier rounds. I think now any team is capable of winning, whether we have home-court advantage or not. We just want to make it a great series. Both teams are championship teams.

Q. The preparation going into Game 1, do you like it?
RAY ALLEN: I've never been in this situation. I don't know what the moment is going to present as we think about tomorrow. I think in the last five days we've had ample opportunity to rest. We've had ample opportunity to practice, take care of our bodies, be home. The days have been good to us.

Q. How are you getting ready for the Lakers' offense?
RAY ALLEN: Well, I think just like any other teams that we face, it's an adjustment. Throughout the year we talk about a process of being a championship team and not getting tired of the process of getting prepared every day for each new team that comes in the building or when we're on the road. So the playoffs have been somewhat easy because you see the same teams over and over again. These playoffs have afforded us the ability to play teams in succession where I think from one round to the next I think we learn something from each individual, the players, the teams, and they made it tough on us, and we learned from each round that we went through.

Q. Can you talk about Pau Gasol, please?
RAY ALLEN: You guys know more about Pau than I do (laughter). Well, we've always known him to be one of the better big men in this league. He's definitely -- he had a great year. How he ended up in LA, definitely he's added a lot to their roster and he's made them the championship team that they are, and he's going to be a focal point of what we're doing out there on the defensive end all series.

Q. Can you talk about how great it is to be a part of this rivalry that goes back so far?
RAY ALLEN: I think in talking about this rivalry, a lot has been asked throughout the year both times that we played the Lakers -- people have asked how exactly do we fit in, and I said, well, most of us were young kids when this rivalry took place that we watched and we were fans of it, and I think now playing with the Celtics, we really -- we're not a part of the rivalry. I know the fans that have been here and that have lived through the many different games that the two teams have fought through, and now I think we're a part of it. I said earlier in the year it would take the Celtics and the Lakers to be in The Finals and to have playoff repercussions to win a championship that would start the rivalry back up again.

Q. On the Lakers-Boston series:
RAY ALLEN: The excitement, definitely. I think this whole week after we beat Detroit, I think the market machine just went into full-blown, full-steam-ahead thoughts of what exactly and how are we going to put this into motion. It definitely pays homage to all the Laker greats and the Celtic greats, and I'm pretty sure the building is going to be filled with green here and in LA yellow, and a lot of legends on both sides and definitely celebrities, because I think when the NBA really was at the point where we were all growing up, it was really at the pinnacle of society when Magic was one of the greatest players and Larry Bird and Michael Jordan and Dr. J, those two were the best teams, and most people who knew anything about the NBA, it was about the Lakers and the Celtics.

Q. Do you feel that whatever happens in these next two weeks will be talked about for 20, 30, 40 years because we have seen that these last five days? Does that hit home with these teams more than in other times?
RAY ALLEN: I think a lot of it is the setup. You can talk about this going into it and the magnitude of the situation, what all this means for the history of the game and for what we -- the history we all hope to make being a part of this. But really, it depends on how everything goes. I think how we write this story, I think, from our team to their team, just how everything goes. It's a seven-game series. What does that mean?

Q. Do you worry about an adrenaline rush? I know you have a routine, but this is a big stage, it's a new thing for you. Do you worry about the first minutes, the adrenaline rush taking over for you?
RAY ALLEN: I think for all of us, for all of us that will take over at some point. We'll have to calm down. We've had that in stages this year. The first game in Rome where we got our first game, training camp, that first practice, and then to that first game in Rome when we played and everybody was so excited and we ran out there and we were all sweating and were ready to go. And then you figure the first game at home, and then the first playoff game, and then you've got the two Game 7s we played in and now this. So again, the success that we've had, the ability to experience every unique situation from premature stages of our team and our individual basketball lives here as a team together, to now going through this point where we're all going through it together. So it's a great experience to have and not be by yourself but with a group of guys and experience together.

Q. Are you just a little tired of all this talk, and are you ready to start playing now?
RAY ALLEN: You know, these are the moments. If I can reflect on the winter when we were watching the Super Bowl, we were all lined up in our homes having Super Bowl parties and having friends over and you see the football players with their shades on and wherever it's somewhere sunny, they're playing football and they're excited about what they're doing and they're just living for the moment. I think this is that moment for us. We just enjoy it; it's a great time for you. I would rather be here most definitely than somewhere else watching it.

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