MANILA, Philippines — A year that saw one legendary career after another come to a close bids goodbye to yet another basketball great.

Ray Allen has announced he is retiring from the NBA in a letter he wrote and posted on The Players' Tribune.

Allen won two championships, one each with the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat, but in an article titled "Letter to My Younger Self," the sharp-shooting guard defined his success on the court as part of an even bigger picture.

"Basketball will take you far away from that school yard," Allen wrote. "You will become far more than just a basketball player. You’ll get to act in movies. You’ll travel the world. You will become a husband, and the father of five amazing children."

But Allen will first and foremost be remembered as one of the deadliest outside snipers the game has ever seen. He retired as the NBA's career leader in three-pointers made with 2,973 and the lasting image associated with him was the corner triple that won Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, leading to the Heat taking the title in seven games.

The 10-time All-Star played in Milwaukee and Seattle in his first 11 seasons before moving to Boston where he joined Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, a super-partnership that resulted in a championship in 2008.

Garnett announced his retirement in September, two months after Tim Duncan made his official in July. Kobe Bryant, another contemporary, played his last game in April after a season-long farewell tour. Bryant and Allen were both drafted in 1996.

Allen, nicknamed Jesus Shuttlesworth, after the character he played in the 1998 basketball film He Got Game, hadn't played in the NBA since the 2013-14 season. Rumors had flown that he was keen on breaking his hiatus to come back and chase a ring, but nothing close to a sure deal ever transpired.

In The Players' Tribune post, he recalled the challenges of his youth, fitting in and finding his place. "A successful man is built of 1,000 failures. Or in your case, 14,000 misses," Allen wrote.

He added, referring to his 13-year-old self, "I write this to you today as a 41-year-old man who is retiring from the game. I write to you as a man who is completely at peace with himself."

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