Allen does what he sees fit during the lockout

Ray Allen will turn 36 July 20, another milestone for the game’s greatest 3-point shooter as he embarks on perhaps his final season with the Celtics. Allen has one more year on his Boston contract, worth $10 million, and then it’s possible he will depart for greener pastures and an opportunity for a reserve role for a team that needs one final piece.

The lockout can be damaging to players who don’t take care of themselves, as we learned in 1998 when players such as Shawn Kemp, Rod Strickland, and Mitch Richmond saw their careers suffer after such long layoffs. Allen said he will make sure that doesn’t happen to him or any of his veteran teammates.

Players have been told by the Players Association to prepare for a long work stoppage, and that has encouraged some, such as Deron Williams of New Jersey, Sonny Weems of Toronto, and free agent Darius Songaila, to sign contracts with European teams. Allen isn’t going anywhere, and he will use this time to ensure that he is in premium condition.

“It’s really hard to say, it could be next week the lockout could end or it could carry on,’’ Allen said last week. “I’ve been in this situation back in ’99. We just have to sit and keep ourselves healthy, take care of our bodies. It hurt a lot of players last time and it sent them into retirement and they weren’t ready when the season came back and got out of shape. The lesson for me is to keep myself together and the guys that I play with.’’

“I just have to have faith in our system and the guys that are negotiating on our behalf,’’ Allen said. “I look at 15 years and to be able to have made it this far. I remember when I came to the league I gauged my years and my career against what Michael Jordan did. At the time he was like eight, nine years [in the league] and I said I would be lucky to play 12 years. If I could do that, I’d be happy. So it’s almost like I am on borrowed time right now. I want to continue to borrow it.

“And if the season doesn’t happen, I just get ready for the next one.’’

While team officials are banned from talking about the lockout or negotiations, players have the freedom to express their disappointment, and Allen understands his place in sports and society. The fact that millionaires are fighting with their bosses over a $4 billion pie is not lost on one of the game’s gentlemen.

“I think of Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Dr. J, and I almost feel just . . . the money we make, not only as players but as owners, the money that’s in the loop is so outstanding, it’s almost embarrassing we can make this type of money and then we can haggle over what we haggle over,’’ Allen said. “It’s important that the game is at an all-time high and I believe that those players in the ’70s and ’80s, they built us to this point to where we can afford the salaries that we all afford, and we just have to remember that. We’ve got to take this game to the next level and know that this is bigger than us.’’