All of the NBA is talking about Grayson Allen of the Milwaukee Bucks and his flagrant foul that cost Chicago Bulls’ Alex Caruso the next few weeks on the court.
If you haven’t been paying attention, Grayson committed a pretty intense foul that caused Caruso to fall on his wrist.
Grayson Allen foul on Alex Caruso. Replays included. pic.twitter.com/1ixcve9i0s
— Ⓜ️𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕤𝔻 ▶️ (@_MarcusD3_) January 22, 2022
Because of the foul, Allen was ejected from the game but many expected the NBA to hand out a harsher sentence due to the severity of the foul.
Sure enough, the league is suspending Allen for one additional game.
The Bucks have an opinion on the matter and it’s one that is surprising a lot of people.
Agree To Disagree
It’s not often that a team comes forward and speaks out about a player’s suspension but that’s exactly what the Bucks did after Allen was officially benched for a game.
Their statement of support is leaving some scratching their heads.
In a rare move, the Milwaukee Bucks make a statement decrying the NBA’s one game suspension of Grayson Allen pic.twitter.com/yzff2kThpn
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) January 24, 2022
The fact that the Bucks are saying something – especially about this case – is confounding.
It seems that the vast, vast majority of people agree that Allen’s actions were wrong, over-the-top, and could have led to a very serious injury.
Therefore, most people agree with the suspension.
The Bucks choosing to debate this suspension is not a particularly great look for the reigning champions.
Their statement left a bad taste in the mouth of many, including former coach and NBA commentator, Stan Van Gundy:
Yeah I’ve heard coaches or GMs verbally disagree with suspensions, fines etc. but I never remember a team putting out a statement.
— Stan Van Gundy (@realStanVG) January 24, 2022
But Why, Bucks?
Perhaps the most confusing thing about the Bucks’ statement is the fact that they disagree with the NBA’s choice to suspend Allen.
The question is: why?
On what grounds do the Bucks disagree with the action?
All things considered, a single-game suspension (following an ejection) isn’t that bad – it could have been a lot worse.
Indeed, many people were calling for the sentence from the NBA to be much harsher.
In the end, Allen is only missing a single game when many thought he could have been out for a week or two.
So why does Milwaukee disagree with the ruling?
Does the team think that Allen did nothing wrong and his foul wasn’t flagrant?
If that’s the case, they might be totally on their own with that opinion.
Even die-hard Bucks fans feel that Allen went too far.
All in all, this move by the Bucks is illogical for multiple reasons: for one, Allen’s suspension seems beyond fair and, secondly, the NBA’s choice certainly didn’t warrant a response.
It’s good to support one of the team players but the Bucks came away looking bad with this choice.
Allen Has Arrived
As for Allen, he’s now considered a villain by many, a role that could possibly help him perform even better.
He’s already been having a wonderful season (11.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists a game in an average of 28 minutes played per game).
Love him or hate him, Allen is becoming an important part of the Bucks’ lineup and perhaps that’s why the team came out swinging for him.
NEXT: The Bucks Are Officially Back On Track For A Title Defense