[podcast] Ray Allen: My Life in Shoes

Mars was right. It's all about the shoes.

RAY ALLEN is notoriously obsessive about everything. He's legendary for his pre-game routine, which starts three hours before gametime. As a kid, he's said he was borderline OCD. You don't get to be the NBA's all-time three-point champ without having a touch of crazy in you. So it comes as no surprise that he's just as obsessive about his sneakers as he is his shot.

PHOTOS: Ray Allen unveils "Wall of Hope" at Fourth Wall Project

On Wednesday night, Allen went for a walk back through his career, one shoe at a time. He gets boxes of special-edition kicks through his Brand Jordan sponsorship -- he's been with Jordan his entire career -- and he keeps every pair. He can tell you which ones he was wearing during which game of the 2008 finals, or his first All-Star game. (No sign of the ones Jesus wore, though.) To hear Allen tell it, picking the right shoe is as important a part of his routine as his 11:30 am nap or his pregame shout-around. On Wednesday, he told the story of a night when he didn't have a new shoe from Brand Jordan -- and called up Michael Jordan himself, who made sure some guy got on a plane and delivered the correct pair to Allen before gametime the next day.

You can check out Allen's favorite pairs at the Fourth Wall Project on Brookline Avenue as part of a Vitamin Water-sponsored pop-up/takeover that runs through the month of July. If you go, don't forget to dunk a little change in the basket at the end. (The exhibit is open during Vitamin Water's "UnCapped" events; find the schedule here.)

DOWNLOAD: Ray Allen's Life in Sneakers [mp3, 45 mins]