Ray Allen is Mariano Rivera.

Think about it: Absolute consistent excellence with no sign of decline in their late 30's, all business on the field (or court) and not a whiff of controversy. No obnoxious national ad campaigns, no TMZ appearances, no bizarre rants to the media and an almost incomprehensible lack of change in physical appearance. One man's cutter is another man's 3-pointer. OK, Allen decided to shave his head completely and Rivera was never in a threesome in a Spike Lee movie, but you get the point. 

Now, Mariano Rivera is very clearly the greatest closer of all-time, and he's done enough to at least raise the topic that he might be the best pitcher of all-time. Ray Allen is not the greatest shooting guard of all-time, not even in the top five. But Allen is the greatest old shooting guard the NBA has ever seen.

This is Ray Allen's 16th NBA season. He was the fifth pick in the 1996 draft, right between Stephon Marbury and Antoine Walker (that was an M.L. Carr pick if you are keeping score at home). He's been an All-Star 10 times, and twice a Second-Team All-NBA player. The Hall of Fame is a lock, and he should get in the first time around. Any serious list of the 10 best shooters to ever pick up a basketball has to have Allen's name on it. The 3-point record, the remarkable durability, all that stuff.

And guess what? He's never been better. Sure, Allen's averaged more points (he was top 10 in the league in PPG four times in his career, including fourth with a 26.4 PPG in 2006-07) but from an efficiency standpoint, you are watching a player at his peak. Allen set a career-high in 3-point and overall shooting percentage last season - at age 35 - and (yup, just six games, I understand) this season is off to an absurd start, shooting 56.5 percent from the field and 61.1 percent (22-of-36) from international waters. He's averaging 20.0 points per game and has attempted 11.5 shots per game. The year he averaged 26.1 PPG he took 21 shots per game. Allen was in the top 10 in true shooting percentage (a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws) twice in his first 12 seasons and has been in the top 10 twice in the last three years (and is fourth this year). See what I mean about efficient?

Look, there is a way things are supposed to be. Some things never change, and it's frankly almost comforting. An aging rock star believing that some solo album he just released is the best work he's ever done (let's call it the McCartney Sea of Delusion). Disgrace after disgrace from the NCAA, a group that can only aspire to one day move up to the ethical level of the pornography industry. Academy voters fighting over themselves to hand out Oscars to overrated British actors and actresses (if Dame Judi Dench had been born in Effingham, Illinois she'd maybe be one the five best actresses in Central Illinois Repertory Theatre, but an accent goes a long way). Jay Leno winning by appealing to the lowest common denominator. The American public first mocking and then forgetting about Iowa after the caucuses end.

One more: Shooting guards do not set career highs at age 35 and now at age 36.

Doesn't happen. First of all, most of them are out of the league by then (even Michael Jordan was done -- second retirement -- at age 34, and when he came back to the Wizards at age 38, he shot 41.6 percent from the field). Jerry West is on almost everybody's list of the top three shooting guards in the history of basketball. He played just 31 games at age 35 (1973-74), shot 44.7 percent from the field (third-worst of his career) and retired. Clyde Drexler is another Hall of Fame two-guard. He retired after his worst shooting season at age 35. This is how it's supposed to go with these guys, there is a script that has been followed until now with very few exceptions. 

Reggie Miller hit 40.6 of his 3-point attempts at age 36 (2001-02), but his field-goal percentage was well below his career average plus he had an awful season the year before and declined steadily in the years after. Jeff Hornacek is the only other pure shooter that suffered almost zero decline, finishing second in the league in 3-point shooting and leading the NBA in free-throw shooting (95.0 percent) at age 36 (his final season, 1999-00). 

I think Jeff Hornacek was a terrifically underrated player during his career and unfairly largely forgotten today, but two key differences between what he accomplished deep in Act III and what we are seeing from Allen: Hornacek averaged 29.9 and 27.7 minutes per game over his final two seasons, Allen averaged 36.1 minutes last season and is at 34.3 (again, very early on) this year. And Ray Allen is a much better and more active defensive player than Hornacek. 

It helps - a great deal - when you have a point guard with the skill not just to penetrate and kick out but with the knowledge of where you want the ball (and Allen also benefits from Rondo's ability to find him trailing on the wing on the fast break). And it doesn't hurt that Allen's workout regimen won't be confused with John Lackey's. But there have been guys with great point guards and cardio addiction before, and it hasn't done much to beat down Father Time.

So maybe Allen is just an outlier, and that's that. A freak of nature lucky enough to land in the perfect spot. And we all know that he's not going to play at this level all season, but has anyone seen evidence that he won't be at least as good as he was last season? We all assume that the Celtics are going to go in a different direction after this season with Allen and Garnett's contracts ending, but can you do better for $10 million than what Allen can give you? If I'm Danny Ainge, I give Garnett the gold watch but do everything I can to keep Allen for the right price. Maybe, just maybe, he has another two or three years of this kind of production. 

After all, Mariano Rivera just turned 42.