Back in December, Duke University shooting guard Grayson Allen was suspended indefinitely by coach Coach Mike Krzyzewski for a tripping incident that occurred during a game against Elon University.
Now, if this was a one-off type of situation then it wouldn’t be worth revisiting. However, Allen is guilty of committing this violation against sportsmanship and respect, not once, not twice, but three times!
Three times over the past one and half seasons, Allen lost control in the heat of battle and tripped or kicked an opposing player. Yet, his cumulative punishment has been little more than a brief recess from basketball activities.
When the latest, and perhaps most egregious, incident occurred, Coach K levied his “indefinite” suspension, which turns out to have only been one game. Funny how indefinite sounds like its lengthy until you realize it could be used to describe any unknown amount of time. Coach K rationalized his decision by stating the following to Jay Bilas in an interview on ESPN:
“I think it’s appropriate, and I think the things that we’ve done are appropriate. There are things that you see or the public see, and there are things that you all don’t see and shouldn’t see or shouldn’t be talked about, and they’re called teachings. You don’t need to teach out in the public all the time.
“What he did was wrong. He was punished for it. I think it’s time to move on, and I think the new role he has will be a good one for him.”
How shocking. What? You didn’t see this coming?
Here’s what I had to say in my article Grayson Allen is White Privilege In A Basketball Uniform: “With his latest tripping incident against Elon University being the most egregious of his violations against sportsmanship and common decency, Coach K had no choice but suspend Allen “indefinitely”. However, but by not giving a specific amount of games, the door was left open for Allen’s return to the court sooner rather than later.”
In my editorial piece, I called out Duke for coddling a player who I have yet to hear the media call a “thug” or “animal” or “convict”.
It’s a peculiar phenomenon because we all know that there have been many black college athletes who have been disrespected by fans and the media for things that fell below actual physical assault. Yet, Allen is allowed to repeatedly skirt harsh punishment?
“I had no idea (how long the suspension would be),” Allen told the News and Observer. “I was home over break, and I knew coming back I was going to have to work my way back and earn it and be under control and accept whatever discipline came by way from our coaching staff. When I was back on the court, I just put everything in the past.”
Now he is back on the court and everything is hunky-dory and in the past? Yeah, it was easy to see that the venerable Coach K was going to balk on any extended punishment for his superstar player.
That’s normal to y’all? Because it’s not to me. And if Allen’s return to the court after only missing one game isn’t indicative of white privilege, then I have no idea what is.
