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NBA.com: Where are you these days? I know you’re from Chicago, but I also know you love you some Memphis.

Tony Allen: I’m in Memphis. I stayed down here simply because, man, I don’t get love like this anywhere else. I’ve been in a lot of states. But for real, for real, from just going to get gas, seeing school teachers, people who are just doing stuff for the community, just having those relationships with those people and those people just seeing me outside of events or whatever, they respect the work that I put in to those areas. Not only that, but also what I embodied on the court in Memphis. I’ve been everywhere. I won a championship in Boston. I get love out there, but the love that I get here, and even from my hometown (Chicago), it’s just a whole different type of love.

Tony Allen was given a standing ovation in his first game back in Memphis.



Grit and Grind forever. pic.twitter.com/cNgfU8xl7t — NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) October 19, 2017

What are you doing these days? TV, radio, what kind of stuff?

I’m trying to get into that field. I sat back and gave myself a year and a half, two basketball seasons, and I reflected. I was like, ‘Yo, let me just go ahead and see what these, what we call experts are saying.’ I think my opinion matters. I played on the hardwood, battled with some of the best. I know that routine and preparing for competition. It’s like, I did it at a high level and I prepared at a high level. If we needed extra assistance on the defensive end, I’ve mastered that. I think I did. I prepared myself to be the best. And I study talents. I study all types of talents, man, from 6-10 guys, even guys as short as Lou Williams that score the ball. My job was definitely embraced with toughness, pride, and hanging my hat on that end.

Explain how you earned your defensive prowess.

I think that all started when I was young. [My college coach Eddie] Sutton, he told me that I was going to have to start changing my game to be more defensive-minded, and was teaching me the tools. When I got to Boston, I still thought I was like a player of the year kind of guy. Before all that, I thought I was this prolific type of scorer. These guys needed me to be a puzzle. Doc [Rivers] told me if I wanted to be on the court, I needed to be making the 50-50 plays, diving for loose balls, taking charges and trying to make plays. That’s how I would stay on the court. A lot of people look at that as a role player. But a lot of players in the league have too much pride to even take that type of conversation from a coach because guys are so talented coming in.

Tony Allen is hoping to work with some of today's players to help improve their defense.

Aren’t you trying to start an academy that focuses primarily on teaching defense sort of like what Kobe Bryant is doing with the Mamba Academy?

We want to pretty much take that same format out there with what they’re doing with the offensive camps. The mindset of it is they’re taking the defense out of the game now. And you’ve got a lot of guys who could improve on the defensive end. I’m just going to throw a name out there right now, and I’m not saying he needs improvement. But let’s say [Minnesota Timberwolves swingman Andrew] Wiggins to throw a name out there speaking hypothetically to give you an example of the mindset of our camp. He’s skilled, he’s talented, but if he could get a few techniques in how to defend the pick-and-roll, going over, picking his poison, and how to limit guys with numerous attributes to their games, that could help. Hell, let’s throw in Devin Booker. Monty Williams is a defensive-minded coach, who probably wants Devin to be more defensive-minded moving forward. There are guys who probably could improve at trying to stop guys with numerous amounts of attributes in one-on-one situations. I’ve mastered that. I know I’ve studied a lot of film on that. I know a lot of coverages that the league is playing right now.

Such as?

The bigs are pretty much not even in the play. It’s like a three-man pick-and-roll because the bigs are so far back in the pick-and-roll. I guess they want you to give up the mid-range shot. However, when you’ve got guys like Damian Lillard, who sees a wide-open goal when he comes off the pick-and-roll, it’s like a layup and a basket. I want to teach bigs as well. Who’s the big from Washington, [Thomas] Bryant? They’re probably implementing that style of defense for him, but hey, wouldn’t it be great to have that knowledge to be great in a show pick-and-roll where the big is up a little more, where a big can pretty much blitz the pick-and-roll, pretty much trap the pick-and-roll or have the agility and the mindset of how we’re going to defend it. In this academy, you’ll have those tools. Defense in the league is pretty much a lost art. What greater guy to teach that than me?

So how do you decide who to invite?

That’s the conversation now. Like, how elite do we want to go? We’ll do maybe college kids, high school kids, and have pros be invited to the camp not only to just participate and get the knowledge, but just to keep it elite and getting the best of the best in there to keep up that defense-first mindset.

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are two of Allen's elite defenders.

For you, who are the dogs on defense in the NBA right now?

I’ve got a handful of guys I love. Obviously, don’t nothing move without us talking about Kawhi Leonard. Those battles with him were always the ones you made sure you got your nice rest for. However, me looking at the game now, I just think Kawhi pretty much dominates both ends. Him alongside his other two teammates Paul George and Patrick Beverley, those guys are pretty much standouts. But you can’t talk defense without saying what’s up to my First-Team All-Defense alumni Marcus Smart. I like the way that he’s implemented the 3-ball to his game to add playmaking and ball skills. Also, he calls himself a stretch 6. He’s a sixth-man that can stick 1 through 5. The league is going small. You catch the guy sticking Kevin Love in some games. Then, you catch him sticking Damian Lillard. So, he’s 1 through 5, you know what I mean?

He said that he’s on “another level.”

Right, he’s definitely on another level. I like the way he implements a little bit of acting in there. He does it to get some charges, and he does a little bit of antics. He looks like he’s always agitated. I love his swagger. But those guys I just mentioned are some of the names that stand out the most in today’s game to me.