Though he's just a rookie, Utah Jazz guard Grayson Allen has already heard his fair share of boos in opposing arenas. It seems they haven't forgot about his tenure with the Duke Blue Devils, where he won an NCAA championship in 2015.
Booing a rookie might seem like a low blow, but Allen is no ordinary rookie. At Duke, the Florida native became one of the best offensive players in the ACC.
Allen was a solid player at Duke, to be sure. However, his intentional trip of Louisville's Raymond Spalding in a game on February 8, 2016 must be noted.
Allen recently sat down for an interview with Shlomo Sprung of forbes.com. Amid their discussion, the former McDonald's All-American noted that fans are going to feel one way or the other about his Duke lineage.
“I think anyone who is also a fan of college basketball as well as the NBA, you have an opinion on Duke,” Grayson Allen told Sprung. “And so it’s either going to be a cheer or a boo.”
Jazz forward Derrick Favors also commented on the booing his teammate has received in opposing arenas.
“Every time he comes in the game on the road, it seems like he’s getting booed or heckled by opposing fans,” Favors said with a smile.
The booing is a bit unwarranted, but Duke haters are gonna hate. It's just the way it is in college basketball. You either love them or hate them. And for some, the hate runs deep.
In his 14 appearances with the Jazz this season, Allen has averaged 3.6 points on 34.5 percent shooting form the field (28.6 percent from beyond the arc) in 10.5 minutes per outing.
The Jazz will hit the road again on Friday, when they'll travel to Charlotte for a match-up against the Hornets. Tip-off inside the Spectrum Center is set for 7:00 p.m. EST. Let's see if the boo birds are out for Allen.
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