Robinson leads Celtics to preseason win
The two high school players were thrashing, trying to keep up with the old-timer on the elliptical machine next to them. “We’re going to beat you,” wheezed one teen at a Hartford health club last summer.
“You won’t,” boomed the man, sounding like a Marine gunnery sergeant on Parris Island. “Because I’m the best in shape of anyone you’ll ever find doing this.”
After putting them through 30 increasingly dizzying minutes, Celtics shooting guard Ray Allen invited his new acquaintances to follow him to the treadmills. He had already taken one of the curious kids through his workout of bench presses, curls, shoulder lifts and push-ups—it happened to be an upper-body day for Allen—with little or no rest in between each set. Now the teenager’s teammate had asked if they could join in for an hour of brutal cardio training, culminating in a half hour of sprinting in which Allen hiked up the speed in 30-second increments.
The Hartford Public High players were doubled over when Allen stepped off the treadmill. “I told them, ‘How does that feel that I’m 20 years older than both of you guys and you can’t keep up with me?’” recalls Allen. “I was giving them crap, but I wanted them to know if you guys want to be great you need to be in great condition. I said, ‘I’m 35 years old—how am I beating you guys?’”
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