How do you make the best basketball player on the planet appear ordinary? Have him shoot jumpers next to Ray Allen.

It's been one week since the Heat's 27-game win streak ended, and the team is getting in a quick practice before flying to Charlotte for its next game. Miami has clinched the top record in the Eastern Conference, giving it the No. 1 seed and home court advantage in the playoffs. The guys are loose. The pressure is off. Everyone's having fun.

On the far end of the practice facility, LeBron James is paired with Allen for some shooting drills. This is where the three-time NBA MVP, the reigning Finals MVP and the two-time Olympic gold medalist looks almost pedestrian. Because for all his gifts and all his talent and all the triple-doubles and all the titles James may win, there's one thing in basketball he'll never be: A better three-point shooter than Ray Allen. Sorry, LBJ, that's just the way it is. But don't sweat it; there's no shame in taking a backseat to perfection.

Scorer. Shooter. Pure shooter. Ray Allen.

On the totem pole of labels given to NBA players who have made a name for themselves by racking up points, the above hierarchy has been in place since the year 2000, or roughly the time when Ray Allen started shooting threes at well above a 40 percent clip, including back-to-back seasons over 43 percent.

"As a guard coming into this league, you try to figure out how to have an impact on the game," Allen says after practice. "When I first got into the NBA, I was paired with two post players who we went to pretty regularly, so I had to space the floor."

The best way to space the floor is to force a defense to recognize that if you're left open from downtown, you're going to hit the shot. If the help defense comes, someone else is open. If it doesn’t? Bucket.

The practice winds down and James and Allen are the only two guys shooting on their hoop. There's one ball between them and as Allen's shots fall, James is momentarily reduced to playing the part of the little brother who stands under the hoop, waiting for one of his big brother''s shots to bounce out so he can have a turn. In the understood world of make-it take-it during shootarounds, Allen is the most lopsided partner imaginable. He almost always makes it, which means you're almost never taking it.

Swish. Rebound. Repeat. This process happens over and over again, each shot a mirror image of the one before it.

"I was a great shooter going into college from high school," Allen says. “I could shoot well and I could score. When I got to college, I just learned more about the fundamentals of shooting and being consistent."

Consistency is the bedrock of being a great long-range shooter; it shows up on the court, in your physical shot, and on the stat sheet, with the results. Allen's season-by-season shooting totals and percentages are a study in repeat performances. He's had 11 straight seasons of hitting more than 100 threes. In many of those seasons, he either approached or topped 200. In 2006, during what could be considered his magnum opus year on production from behind the arc, he hit 269 threes on 653 attempts (41 percent). He also shot 90 percent from the foul line that year.

Milwaukee. Seattle. Boston. Miami. The address doesn't matter. Put Ray Allen 23 feet and 9 inches from the basket in any arena under any conditions and he’ll still be the most efficient three-point assassin in the league.

"Being a great three-point shooter wasn't something that I set out to do," Allen says. "Over time in the NBA, especially early in my career, I've had shooting coaches who philosophized about how to shoot that A-type shot every time. There are lots of guys who can shoot a 'C' shot in this league and they can get pretty good at it. But if you can shoot your ‘A' shot every time, that's how you become one of the best."

If the Clippers had lost to the New York Knicks on Sunday, a lot of unhappy L.A. fans might have pointed a finger at assistant coach Bob Thate.

While assistant coaches normally stay out of the spotlight, Thate did something unusual before Sunday's game -- he spent time working with an opposing player.

But this wasn't just any opponent. Thate met with Jason Kidd, with whom he worked on the New Jersey Nets, to give the veteran guard some pointers on his three-point shooting. Kidd was in need of some coaching, as he had shot 2-for-17 in the Knicks' four previous games.

"He helped me out a little bit, what I was doing wrong," Kidd told the New York Daily News. "I've known him for a long time, his family. I'm happy he's working with the Clippers and Blake (Griffin). He just pointed out a couple of things, just trying to help you out."

The 20-minute tutorial between Thate and Kidd was so rare that Jeff Van Gundy called it "one of the most interesting things" he's seen in a long time.

And at the end of the day, everyone went home happy. Kidd shook off his cold streak and nailed his first three three-pointers of the game. Meanwhile, the Clippers won the game, so Thate avoided any finger-pointing.

Anyone who watched Steve Kerr during his time at Arizona or during his 15-year NBA career saw that he made three-point shooting look maddeningly easy.

The five-time NBA champion connected on about 45.4 percent of his three-point attempts, making him the most accurate shooter in league history.

So how did Kerr do it? His method was simple: Tons of reps.

"Just a whole lot of extra shooting beyond what you did in practice," Kerr told ThePostGame. "Before practice, after practice. Whether it was in season or out of season."

Kerr says he was also lucky enough to work with some great coaches over his career. At Arizona he was mentored by Lute Olson, and in the NBA he played for legendary coaches Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. That's not a bad recipe for success.

But perhaps the most important quality for someone who wants to hang around in the NBA, Kerr said, is the willingness to put in extra work. These athletes have risen to the top of their profession, and while they could coast and rely on their magnificent athleticism, the men who have the best careers know how to continually challenge themselves.

"Putting the work in every single day, being creative with the work that you’re doing," Kerr said. "Constantly trying to get better. But that's really what keeps guys around in the NBA and separates them is how hard they work and what they’re putting into it year in and year out."

Kerr has been serving on a panel which recently selected the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Allstate NABC Good Works Team. For more information about the squad and its honorees, see here.

With a vertical leap reportedly measuring more than 40 inches, LeBron James reigns king of the air. Sure, great genes help. But any man can increase his hops with a little work. The secret is adding plyometric training -- explosive power movements -- to your workout, says Todd Durkin, C.S.C.S., author of The IMPACT! Body Plan. That's why Durkin created this high-powered fitness challenge.

The test: How fast can you complete 24 jumps on a 24-inch box or bench?

Here's how it works: Stand facing a box or bench that's 24 inches high. Jump onto it with both feet, landing softly with your knees slightly bent. Step down and repeat. Do 24 total.

Is a 24-inch box or bench too high? Use one 12 inches high to start, and work your way up to taller boxes each time you try the drill.

Want to give it a shot? Watch the video above to see Durkin perform the challenge. He completed 24 jumps in 58 seconds. What was your time? Tell us in the comments below. (Or, try one of these other exercises in the Men's Health Train For Life Challenge Series.)