An Open Letter to Grayson Allen

To Mr. Grayson Allen,

I have been a Duke fan since a very young age and have come more into a love for the Blue Devils over the past decade than ever before.

Photo courtesy: Charlotte Observer

There are a lot of reasons that I am writing this to you today, but I will start with the positives. First I would like to thank you for your stellar performance in the 2015 National Championship. Without your 10 second half points and herculean effort, Duke does not beat Wisconsin.

Second, I would like to applaud your competitive spirit. There is not a person on this planet that could watch games at Cameron Indoor or beyond and call you out for a lack of fire. Even your most recent debacle involves by your intent to hustle for a ball out of bounds. Therefore, you are owed some kudos for the passion that you bring to your team and to each game.

Here’s the problem: you simply are not going about things in the right way. It is outright embarrassing and I am tired of hearing the general public speak out instead of Duke fans themselves. That is the true reason that I am writing this today: to plead with you for more caution within your choices.

As an athlete, sometimes you have a split second to make a decision and you make the wrong one. That is understandable. Tripping Xavier Rathan-Mayes in the open court and away from the ball is unacceptable. An additional trip of Louisville’s Raymond Spalding is egregious. A more recent trip to an Elon player is downright heinous. Subsequently, you made the incredulous choice to throw a tantrum about receiving a technical for said trip.

Photo courtesy: Sporting News

I am asking you to stop for the sake of the reputations of your school, your coach, your fans and most importantly of all yourself. During a loss to a very talented Florida State team, you seem to have initiated contact with an assistant coach. Did you do this intentionally? Who knows. What matters is that your past is to be used against you here and I cannot fault people for doing so. You are lucky enough that the aforementioned coach came out and defended you in terms of your intentions on the play.

You may not be so lucky next time. At this point, you have already been suspended for a short amount of time and lost your position as captain of the Blue Devils. Take this as a blessing in disguise and learn from it. Sometimes you have to go the extra mile to avoid these situations. Your past currently incriminates you in any questionable situation. Change that.

Photo courtesy: USA Today

Do not take this as some plea to turn it down a notch or calm down on the court. Do not take this as some indictment against your character. Take this as it is: a critique of your actions on the court. Off the court I have heard nothing but good things about you. At this point, however, there is a feel that people’s opinions of you on the court are seeping into their judgments of your life off the court that they or I know nothing about.  Do not let that happen.

You have a ring. You have a stellar Duke Career with over 1,100 points so far. Keep all of that and leave whenever you leave with your reputation intact. Do not let that be the thing that you sacrifice for your years of hard work.

Sincerely,

A concerned fan

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