Former Duke basketball champ Grayson Allen silences silly haters

A Duke basketball legend continues hushing pathetic outbursts from critics.

The “trending” Twitter status of Memphis Grizzlies shooting guard Grayson Allen on Friday evening speaks to his past successes and the general widespread hatred for all things Duke basketball. Meanwhile, the tweets that led to the “trending” tag speak to the immaturity, the jealousy, and, quite frankly, the evil of those who seek to attack his character at every opportunity.

Apparently, if believing the tweets, then Allen — whose worst offense in life is doing like pretty much all NBA players in the 80s used to do by poking his leg out from time to time during highly competitive moments — is, for some illogical reason, a fundamentally bad person for choosing to wear “EQUALITY” on the back of his jersey. Apparently, Allen just looks…well, let’s not even get into that since the accusation is baseless.

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Apparently, the abundance of Blue Devil faces inside the NBA bubble is starting to bring out the worst in all those nimwits who inadvertently fuel the popularity and prosperity of Duke basketball by incessantly slinging foul remarks about past pupils of Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski in such a remarkably vehement fashion.

Well, apparently, Allen either isn’t listening to outsiders or is using their undignified name-calling to inspire his own growth in the league.

How the hero of the 2015 Duke basketball natty has fared in bubble outings

Sure, across 21 minutes in an overtime defeat against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, the Florida native wasn’t exactly spectacular in what was his team’s first official game of the restart, finishing with five points, two rebounds, two steals, and two turnovers. However, Allen was wise in his shot selection, going 2-for-4 from the field, including 1-for-1 from deep. Plus, keep in mind this was his first appearance in the regular season since suffering a hip injury in January.

To no surprise at all, though, Allen’s impressive performance on Sunday in a 108-106 loss to the San Antonio Spurs resulted in nothing but crickets on social media from his detractors.

For one, the 24-year-old, now in his first season with the Grizzlies and second as a pro after becoming the No. 21 overall pick via the Utah Jazz at the 2018 NBA Draft, was at times the only Memphis player showing any heart against the Spurs. Furthermore, Allen poured in 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting while also contributing three rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 27 minutes off the bench.

As a result, loads of smart Memphis supporters have been tweeting that Allen should get the starting nod when the 32-35 Grizzlies (No. 8 in the Western Conference standings) face the 28-38 New Orleans Pelicans — aka the Bayou Blue Devils — at 6:30 p.m. Monday (ESPN).

For the season, Allen is now averaging 7.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists while shooting 45.5 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from deep, and 84.6 percent from the foul line. In other words, despite what some want you to believe, he’s actually doing a bit better than one would expect two years in from a late first-round pick.

But at least we all know now what we can expect to hear from Twitter clowns during the game: barely a peep if Allen does well yet utter foolishness if the Dukie either 1) struggles, 2) commits what would be a generic hard foul for anyone else, or 3) dares to somehow look like the type of guy who doesn’t like certain people.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more news and views regarding Grayson Allen plus all other things Duke basketball.