Friday night's matchup between the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks shaped up to be a tense occasion. It's not because of the quality of the teams, though that played a little factor.

The biggest storyline heading into the game was Grayson Allen, who made an enemy out of Bulls fans after a nasty foul on Alex Caruso. Caruso would end up missing significant due to an injury suffered on that play. Because of that, everyone in attendance was on edge any time Allen was involved in a play.

Then, it happened. Derrick Jones Jr, the Bulls forward, wound up getting a flagrant foul after an elbow to Grayson Allen's head. The incident happened while Jones was contesting Allen's layup attempt.

After the game, Derrick Jones Jr. spoke out about the flagrant foul. The Bulls forward was adamant that the elbow wasn't intentional, and it was an accidental hit that happened at the wrong time. (via K.C Johnson)

Jones Jr. would then call out the media, saying that while the Bulls didn't like what happened in Milwaukee, he wasn't a dirty player who'll hit a player indiscriminately.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Dwight Howard (2024 image, wearing normal clothes) in middle. Lakers' LeBron James on left shooting a basketball, Bulls' Michael Jordan on right shooting a basketball.

Joey Mistretta ·

Suns' Devin Booker and Kevin Durant asking Grayson Allen "Can you play?"

Brett Siegel ·

cG9zdDoyODE3MjE0-thumbnail

Scotty White ·

“I'm not a dirty player. What happened in Milwaukee, we didn't like it. But I'm not going to go out there and try to take a man out.”

What likely happened, though, was some accidental contact that happened at the wrong time. With Bulls center Tristan Thompson talking smack about Allen's earlier foul, as well as Bulls fans booing Allen during the game, the situation was volatile. The refs were likely on edge, and wanted to break up any potential source of fights. DJJ was just the unfortunate victim of this care.