Picture this: It’s a cool and calm Friday night. The Bulls and Bucks are duking it out in what might be the start of a fun rivalry. Sneakers are squeaking against the hardwood floor, there’s basketball being played, and all is right with the world. That is, basketball was on your mind until a fight, per se, broke out.
In the first of four matchups, the Bucks may have beaten the Bulls, but the game’s outcome was hardly the main story. That’s because Milwaukee’s infamous bottom-of-the-bench mainstay Grayson Allen just had to make himself a presence (in an awful way) and couldn’t help himself.
After making a career of “savvy” sleights of hands (and feet) in college at Duke, Milwaukee’s glorified eighth man was up to his usual tricks against Chicago and top sixth man, Alex Caruso.
Caruso goes down super hard on this foul pic.twitter.com/c9kyxlP3m2
— Will Gottlieb (@wontgottlieb) January 22, 2022
Following the play, officials ejected Allen, and Caruso was not only able to finish the game, but OK.
Or not.
Injury Update: Alex Caruso will undergo surgery early next week and be re-evaluated in 6-8 weeks after sustaining a fracture of his right wrist in last night’s game versus the Milwaukee Bucks.
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 22, 2022
Not only is it a massive blow to a Bulls squad who already leans on Caruso’s versatility on both ends of the court, but it’s also another instance where Allen, quite clearly, couldn’t make a regular basketball play.
A moderate shove? Sure. Making a point to wrap up Caruso safely before he jumps into the air? Yes. Clotheslining a guy and slamming him to the ground? Come on; it’s not 1988 anymore. Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman, and I mean this with no disrespect (sort of), would be dinosaurs in an era of the game that, you know, focuses on playing the game first, and hurting the opponent never.
Their modern protege didn’t even bother apologizing for his dangerous antics.
Alex Caruso, asked if Grayson Allen came over to check on him after taking him out: “No.”
— Rob Schaefer (@rob_schaef) January 22, 2022
Unfortunately, the slam and throw of Caruso is par for the course for Allen.
(Mind you: This may be an incomplete resume of “non-basketball” plays. And what a euphemism that word is.)
First, there was that mentioned rap sheet at Duke.
As if everyone didn’t already loathe the Blue Devils to their core, Allen stood out amongst the pack.
Then, during his second season with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2019, he took back-to-back flagrant fouls and was ejected from a Summer League game against the Celtics. You read that right. Officials threw Allen out of a preseason men’s professional basketball game, otherwise known as glorified practice.
Finally, earlier this season, he tried to trip the Knicks’ Derrick Rose on a straight-line driver rather than square his feet and play defense like a well-adjusted person.
You thought I was joking that Grayson Allen tried to trip him. Look at that sly right foot at the end pic.twitter.com/qk7bzy1g1V
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) December 12, 2021
With all of this history in mind, in addition to his takedown of Caruso, it’s unfathomable how Allen remains in the league. When he was a kid, he had to be that one teammate taking warmups far too seriously before eventually giving one of his (former) friends a bloody nose while wondering why no one likes him. (Man, please relax. There’s still a game to be played, and Johnny’s starting tonight!)
It’s unclear how the Bucks feel about their eighth man in private, but the rest of the basketball world would rather see this boxer-turned-ball player hang up the laces for good.
