Duke basketball saint Grayson Allen is victim, ESPN owes two apologies

When defecating foul takes concerning the latest foul from Duke basketball treasure and current Memphis Grizzlies guard Grayson Allen, ESPN announcers are consistently biased, off-base, and as out of line as unsupervised kindergartners waiting at the water fountain.

Most times, forcing the foolishness further by branding the all-time winningest college basketball coach as morally inferior to themselves.

Close examination without blinders uncovers ESPN as a blowhard. A villain. Self-aggrandizing. Too big for its britches. Doesn’t play by the rules.

One of ESPN’s all-time favorite targets to unapologetically hold its nose up at as if he belongs behind bars, the 23-year-old Allen only ever plays exactly as Rudy practiced. No plays off. A ready source of energy for his teammates at all times. So much wound-up passion, in fact, that he never fails to irk his opponents, regularly resulting in frazzled opponents.

Remember, athletes have smartly incorporated such tactics ever since cavemen played caveball.

The proof of Allen’s importance to squads he plays on lies in the not-there-without-the-spark-from-Grayson 2015 national championship banner hanging inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.

He’s a blue-collar overachiever who worked his tail off to go No. 21 at the 2018 NBA Draft — no small feat considering his unfair reputation coming out of Duke. He’s a 6-foot-5, 200-pound role model from Jacksonville, Fla., who heroically brushes off undeserved, incessant attacks from unprofessional announcers and all those who gnash their teeth with suppressed envy of everything the Blue Devils stand for and accomplish.

Recapping for those who haven’t yet seen it or heard about it, the jealous-of-Duke-basketball anti-Allen venom peaked again during the fourth quarter of the Grizzlies’ 113-87 Summer League loss to the Boston Celtics late Thursday night.

ALSO READ: Grayson Allen gets ejected after two flagrant fouls

All Allen did was commit two hard yet routine fouls — neither overly deserving of the received flagrant — within the span of seven seconds, sending Allen to the locker room early with a disappointing three points from a 1-for-8 shooting performance.

Sure, he was probably a bit frustrated. No, he didn’t do anything that doesn’t happen during the course of nearly every NBA game (of course, the other perpetrators of such “crimes” don’t cause announcers to stop talking about whatever they were talking about and foaming at the mouth while demanding instant justice):

ESPN commentator Dan Dakich — the same guy who has relentlessly whined about the way Coach K talks to refs and once attempted to stir up issues inside the Duke basketball locker room by claiming, without any evidence, that former Blue Devil big man Marvin Bagley was “all about Marvin Bagley” — immediately called for the electric chair for Allen.

After the first foul — Allen simply pushed Grant Williams off of him after the Celtics rookie wrapped his left arm around Allen while forcing his right forearm into Allen’s chest in an attempt to set a screen — the 56-year-old toddler and his play-by-play buddy, Ryan Ruocco, fueled one another’s more-absurd-with-every-word rant (with this writer’s What are they watching? moments mixed in below):

The Duke basketball coaches suspended Allen a game as a junior and worked with him rather than give up on him, as they do with each member of #TheBrotherhood without end, both on and off the court to become a better man. The only tiresome displays are Dakich opening his mouth, Ruocco agreeing with whatever Dakich says, and ESPN enabling the both of them.

Dakich: And now it just continues. Truthfully, it’s just exhausting. And look, you said it off air, if he was this tough, grind-it-out, fighting guy, then you’d say alright. Dakich: But all he is, he just stays around the perimeter, shoots jumpshots, avoids contact, and then does things like that. Ruocco: You can’t be sneaky and do those kind of things. You want to go toe-to-toe Charles Oakley style? OK. Dakich: Somebody hits you from behind, and you’re going to react to it, or you get touched, and you’re going to react to it, I mean that’s twice in this game…it happens on a Sunday rec league game at your local YMCA…

So Allen should start being an instigator rather than a fighter-back? So if he plays nastier — in the same manner as the elbow-throwing intimidators every 20th-century NBA team boasted — his actions would somehow be less nasty because they would be more manly?

This is when Dakich, with ESPN responsible as his employer, reacted with an act that would have landed him on his rear outside the arena — with press credentials revoked — had he not worked for the network nobody questions but whose financial state in recent years suggests more should have been questioning it all along.

After deeming the foul as flagrant, the ref came over to tell the announcers the call.

And Dakich grinned ear to ear while twice self-righteously gesturing his thumb over his shoulder and mouthing to the ref, “Get him out of here! Get him out of here!”

How about letting the guys with whistles do their job while you be what you’re supposed to be but, in part because of your distaste for all things Duke, never have been: an impartial observer?

The fetish for watching Dukies receive their punishments is a glaring indicator someone needs far more mental help than Allen.

Once receiving his flagrant, Allen stayed on the floor as Dakich literally put words in Allen’s mouth that have actually never come out of his mouth at all:

After inaccurately mocking Allen in his condescending tone, Dakich went on to question why Allen never chases after loose balls and what not. Guess Dakich was too busy wining and dining his ego that April night four years ago when Allen gained fame and Duke basketball fans’ undying love by kickstarting a comeback run by — what else — chasing down a loose ball and diving headfirst to make the save.

Back to the game: Seven seconds later, Allen swatted at a Williams layup attempt — admittedly with a little more oomph than normal — nicking a little bit of ball but a lot more body.

It’s happened to countless other players, coaches, and even fans.

But, as evidenced late Thursday, an ejection needs to start happening to a color commentator or two.

And if the network that sent said commentator keeps sending him despite never teaching him to properly commentate without trying to influence refs and belittling before a national TV audience a dude who simply had a rough night just like every NBA player has from time to time, then the NBA may eventually find in its best interest voiding whatever deal it has with ESPN.

The point is, Allen’s type of fouls, facial expressions, and body language are exactly in line with Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, and any NBA Joe Schmoe a ref has ever hit with a common foul, flagrant, or technical.

Guess the only difference between Allen and other competitors is Dakich and other doofuses abhor Allen’s existence. They do so not only for his having a promising career ahead but also for having played for the Duke basketball program and, worse yet, having activated the exact weapon Dakich wants us to believe Allen doesn’t possess in order to give the Blue Devils their fifth national championship.

Commit hard fouls. Poke a leg out every now and then. Stand in a spot so an opponent not paying attention runs into your shoulder. Shrug or whine or both when the refs call a foul. Roll your eyes when they deem it a flagrant. React any way you see fit.

You’ll continue doing exactly what all your peers are doing but with infinite more magnifying glasses on your every action.

All this means is you’re getting under people’s skin at the next level — in just your second year in the league. You’re messing with them. And you keep learning not to let them mess with you in the slightest. In other words, you’re doing you’re job exactly right, exactly what Duke basketball fans adore you for:

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more updates, analyses, and opinions concerning Grayson Allen and the rest of the former Duke basketball players in the NBA.

Source: Balldurham.com

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