Molly Keshin, Editor-in-Chief
@mollykCourant
Dear Grayson Allen:
Before I begin, I am going to be completely honest with you here: next year, I’m going to be a part of the University of Virginia Athletics program. You know what that means? I hate Duke, and I’ve been bred to hate them my entire life thanks to my dad. Of course, I respect the school and all of its sports teams and other programs, but there is something about it, especially the basketball team, that just gets under my skin. Maybe it was Christian Laettner, or perhaps the fact that you always screw up my March Madness bracket year after year after year. However, my support for UVA is not the reason why I am so frustrated by your recent actions.
On February 9, 2016, you [rightfully]received a flagrant foul for tripping Louisville’s Ray Spalding after you fell on the court and Spalding tried to go by you. Around two weeks later, you tried to trip Florida State’s Xavier
Rathan-Mayes as he tried to run by. You know that old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”? Well, at this point, I think a lot of NCAA Basketball fans were upset with your actions, and upset with the fact that we thought you’d learn from your mistake after the first time. You know the third part of the saying? “Fool me three times, shame on both of us.” On December 21, 2016, you picked up a technical foul for tripping Elon’s Steven Santa Ana on a drive in the first half of the game. I guess I’m the fool for thinking things would change.
(for a compilation of Allen’s trippings, click here)
I think we can all admit that we’ve made a few mistakes in our lives. I believe one thing we all have in common is the ability to admit to our errors, and to allow that for us to move on. However, you sir, are seriously struggling to do so, and it’s becoming all too clear for us. So, I have just one question to ask you: why do you think you can get away with it?
Tripping somebody is not something that occurs accidentally. Not the first time, not the second, and definitely not the third (and even potential fourth) time around. I understand that you are passionate about the game of basketball and you want to help your teammates win, but is tripping really the best way to get you there? You want to talk about passion? Derek Jeter. Cam Newton. And not to support UVA again, but Malcolm Brogdon. Those guys have passion, and they play the game fair and square. If you think that tripping is going to make you a better athlete than them, then you’re delusional.
Think about it. Why waste your energy trying to trip somebody when you could be focused on other parts of the game, such as staying on your man, boxing out for the rebound, or sticking to the zone? Having a competitive spirit is a great thing, but only to a certain extent. And Grayson Allen, you definitely took it way too far. You have skills, so why aren’t you actually using them? Instead, you make yourself look like a idiot who can’t control his emotions, when you could actually be helping your team more by not tripping people and racking up fouls because you can’t handle the situation.
The part about this whole thing that really ticks me off is that you were given a fair warning of the
consequences for your actions, but yet you carried on with them anyway. The first time, you were called for a flagrant foul. The second time, the refs let you get away with it and did not call a foul, but the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) reprimanded you for it. At that point, you could have told yourself, Okay, I need to calm down. And for the rest of the 2015-16 season, it seems as though you did, and kudos to you for that. But in the 2016-17 season, the tripping really did “see you next fall.” Was the warning by the ACC not enough for you? Could you just not control yourself?
Well, clearly you couldn’t, and I think the temper tantrum made that pretty clear. But honestly, did you seriously think that you could keep getting away with this behavior? At this point, the problem was left to be figured out by Coach Mike Krzyzewski, and his decision was to strip you of your captaincy and suspend you ‘indefinitely.’
‘Indefinitely’ turned into one game. One. One that Duke lost, might I add, only your second loss of the season. I also can’t deny that it really is a tough blow to be stripped of your captaincy, but I’m not even sorry when I say that you deserve it. It all just seems all too convenient that ‘indefinite’ turned into one singular game after losing the one game in which you were banned. Trust me, as much as he has ruined games for the teams I support, I will always respect Coach Krzyzewski, and I understand that a lot of “teachings,” as he said, have to be done behind closed doors with issues like this. But if the behavior doesn’t change, as it doesn’t seem to according to your apparent tripping of Boston College’s Connar Tava on January 7, then something more has to be done, because things don’t seem to be getting any better. And Coach K, I have a little message for you: I
know you’re trying to help, but allowing Grayson Allen to play after the one game you lost makes it seem like either, from the outside, Allen always needs to have his way and you just let him have what he wants, or you can’t figure out a way to win with slightly less talented yet good-hearted and hardworking players.
Although it may seem like I’m ripping you to shreds here, Grayson Allen, I’m just trying to help. By continuing to do this even after your suspension, you are not only putting more pressure on yourself by making the refs watch you like a hawk, but you are just making things more difficult for your team as they handle the absence of Coach K due to his back surgery.
So, my final word of advice to you: for your own sake, as well as that of your team, please just stop the tripping. You need to grow up and stop being a whiny baby. Don’t trip somebody, and then try to make it seem like you didn’t mean to. In all honesty, it’s time to get over it and move on, because you’re just making life worse for yourself. I wouldn’t want to be remembered as the jerk that trips other people because I couldn’t control my emotions. Don’t you want to be remembered as an amazing athlete? Your talent is clearly there, but you’re trashing it. From here on out, I think it’s best for everybody if you keep your feet to yourself.
Sincerely,
Molly Keshin
