It could be sort of a sequel to "He Got Game": 
"They Got Credibility." 

They would be the Milwaukee Bucks. After seven straight losing seasons and a lockout, credibility is something they require, in large and immediate dosages. 

And here it comes. . . . The star of "He Got Game" and an emerging National Basketball Association star at shooting guard, Ray Allen is on the verge of becoming a Milwaukee fixture. 

Allen said Thursday, after busting his tail for new coach George Karl, that work on his six-year, $70.9-million contract extension is "about 80% done." About 20% more, and the remaining fans of the Bucks can relax. There can be a professional basketball future in Milwaukee, after all. 

A perception exists, due to a tricky combination of poor performance on the floor and the winter climate outside the door, that this is something like the Siberia of the NBA. They lose. It's cold. You don't want to be there. It's an exile, not a choice. 

Certainly, this line of thinking goes, a third-year player heading toward stardom and in the last season of his contract, would be looking for the nearest exit. 

Especially a guy who can play who is intelligent, articulate and only 23, with a movie in the bank. Obviously, he needs a bigger market. 

But the Bucks need a breakthrough. They not only need to win games. They need to change minds. They need to show that the brightest and the best are happy to call Milwaukee home. 

And for once, the Bucks are fortunate. In this instance, they have on their hands someone who is more interested in substance than form. 

Ray Allen could go elsewhere. But he is not looking for a higher level of celebrity. Ray Allen is looking, as he says, to "establish a foundation." 

That's good. Other people in his situation might want to establish a situation where they could drive a Maserati 12 months a year. 

But he has already gone national. He has done this while playing professional basketball in Milwaukee. 

"I can still expand, I can still do things that are far beyond what Milwaukee might have to offer me, or Wisconsin, or the Midwest in general," he says. "I have so much time during the off-season to kind of put my eggs in other baskets. 

"I always use Brett Favre as an example; the success that the Green Bay Packers have had, the success that Brett has had individually. He's a household name in everybody's head. He gets the job done. He's at the pinnacle of what a football quarterback is thought of. I feel like, he's in Green Bay and Milwaukee is bigger than Green Bay, so I can get some things like that done here. It's important that I know I can establish a foundation here." 

Same thing with playing here, which is not necessarily doing things the easy way. You could go for the quick fix elsewhere. Or you could build here. 

"It's always easy to go to a team that's already won, because you really don't have a lot of groundwork, you don't have to lay the foundation," Allen says. "Michael Jordan's so great because he's laid the foundation. He's brought a program, a franchise from the NBA cellar to the front door. And everybody respected him for that. And I think that we have a chance of doing that here." 

The climate also does not have to be terrifying. 

"I always say if the house I live in is comfortable, and I have all the amenities I need, then what more can you ask for?" Allen says. 

For all the stardom that he has earned, for all the stardom that is yet to come, this is one sensible human being. He will be a perfect fit in Milwaukee. 

And just by sticking around, he will give the credibility of this franchise a desperately needed boost.