Grayson Allen on Criticism for Duke Tripping Incidents: 'It Doesn't Bother Me'

While playing at Duke, Memphis Grizzlies guard Grayson Allen was an All-American, an All-ACC selection, an NCAA champion and a serial tripper. 

In an appearance on JJ Redick's Old Man and the Three podcast, Allen opened up about the incidents that led to criticism from his conference and a suspension from his team:

"Obviously if I could go back in time, I wouldn't trip anybody. That's clear. But I don't think it bothers me. It doesn't bother me. Either I've gotten so used to it and I realize it was part of my journey where I had to f--k up. I had to make some mistakes to learn."

As a sophomore, Allen made headlines after he tripped Louisville's Ray Spalding and was handed a flagrant foul. He tripped a Florida State player weeks later, and the ACC did not suspend him after an investigation into the issue.

The next season, despite saying he was ready to "play the game the right way" (h/t ESPN), Allen was suspended indefinitely and lost his captain status after he tripped an Elon player. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski allowed him to return to the court after one game, though as Allen explained to Redick, the suspension spanned over winter break.

Allen noted that even with the team's success on the court, the focus was consistently on the dirty plays: 

"I can laugh about it now, but at the time I'm 20 years old waking up and seeing this on ESPN. This is terrible. I can't get outside myself when I'm playing. I'm constantly thinking about what I'm doing on the court because it feels like even if we have Jayson Tatum and Luke Kennard on our team scoring 20 points, that's the story."

Allen has not been a similar spectacle during his two seasons as a pro, averaging just 1.3 personal fouls per game.