Chicago Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan admitted that Grayson Allen's reputation as a dirty player pushed him to confront the Milwaukee Bucks guard during their Wednesday showdown.
DeRozan was seemingly ready to attack Allen after the Bucks swingman shoved him during the third quarter of their meeting. They were quickly separated before things escalated, but it was clear the Bulls star was heated.
Speaking to reporters after the game, DeRozan explained why he had such a strong reaction to the sudden push, pointing out that because it's something that Allen has a record of doing. The Bulls are familiar with it, of course, with Alex Caruso falling victim to Allen's antics last season. To recall, the 27-year-old hit Caruso with a Flagrant 2 that caused the Chicago playmaker and defensive guard to suffer from a wrist injury.
“It's his track record. If it was Boban (Marjanovic), I wouldn’t have done nothing,” DeRozan explained, per Bulls Talk.
True enough, it's hard to blame DeMar DeRozan for trying to confront Grayson Allen. He did it once to the Bulls, and so he can't blame people for thinking he did it purposely.
Allen has since explained that he did not intentionally shove DeRozan and that he was only bumped as he was setting a screen, leading to the incident. Nonetheless, as DeRozan said it, the fact that he has been involved in similar dirty plays before doesn't help his case at all.