Enough: Grayson Allen is a Thug And Should Be Kicked Off Duke’s Team
By Jason Parker
After Grayson Allen tripped another player Wednesday – the third one in the last season and a half – it’s time to remove him from Duke’s roster.
Famed intellectual Albert Einstein once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. After the latest pretty boy prep for the Duke Blue Devils basketball team, guard Grayson Allen, intentionally tripped not one – BUT TWO – players last season (include FSU’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes), fans and the media said he had changed and was more mature in the 2016-17 season.
13 games into the 2016-17 season, Allen is at it again – this time sticking out his leg to trip a player for Elon during their Wednesday night game in a move that was so intentional that even is coach and Count Dracula doppleganger, Mike Krzyzewski, had to actually condemn it and make a decision to suspend Allen indefinitely.
That’s a great first step, Coach K – if this was Grayson Allen’s first offense. A third strike, or in this case third kick, means his days of playing college basketball (at least for Duke) should be over.
I’m all for giving people second chances and an opportunity to redeem themselves. Hell, FSU football made a career out of it under former head coach Bobby Bowden – but even Saint Bobby drew the line before a third time committing the same offense.
No, the crime of tripping someone during the game isn’t the same as punching a female student in the face or committing criminal assault or other crimes – but Allen has clearly shown that he has no regard for the rules of the game or the safety of those he is playing.
After being called for a technical foul in the game Wednesday, Allen went to the Blue Devils’ bench and proceeded to throw a hissy fit the likes of which a six year old would do. Immediately, commentators began to say it was a sign he needs some kind of help to deal with his problems. Here’s the problem: he’s a spoiled brat who finally got punished and couldn’t handle it.
It’s time we call Grayson Allen what he truly is: a thug. If we’re going to use that word for players like Draymond Green when they kick people intentionally or play dirty, then it needs to be used for the latest entitled Blue Devil.
It’s not surprising though that it took THREE TIMES WHERE ALLEN INTENTIONALLY TRIED TO HURT AN OPPONENT before holier than thou Coach K did something. This is the same man who has been dripping with hypocrisy for the better part of a quarter century. Remember when he lectured an Oregon player about sportsmanship during the tournament last year? I guess it takes three offenses for his players to match one for an opponent.
I’ll admit that, like most people, I have a distain for Duke Blue Devils basketball. But these thoughts about Grayson Allen have nothing to do with them being in the same conference as FSU or that fact that Rathan-Mayes was a victim last season. It has to do with the fact that if we are going to demand the heads of those who have done things like this before even just one time, the standard has to be held for people like Allen.
After the game, Allen again “apologized” for his actions and said it won’t happen again when speaking to the media – the same thing he said before the season when asked about last year’s incidents. I guess Einstein had it right.