Chase Swaringen

At this point, Grayson Allen is a household name. He’s now playing his fourth year for Duke, which is rare. He scores a ton and is a guy everyone loves to hate. Average people might find it hard to pinpoint why they hate Allen so much besides the fact he plays on Duke, a college basketball powerhouse everyone loves to root against. After Duke’s trip to Bloomington, Indiana, to face the Hoosiers in the Big 10/ACC challenge, I took it upon myself to compile a list of reasons you can hate the guard. I present to you six perfectly acceptable reasons to dislike Grayson Allen.

1. He is on Tinder

I mean C’mon, Grayson. You’re a year from making a significant amount of cash playing professional basketball somewhere.

Even worse is this pickup line he used on a poor Hoosier fan after Duke’s 91-81 victory. Leave Tinder to average college dudes like me.

2. He Looks Like Ted Cruz

This reason is nothing new or original but it’s still worth mentioning. The resemblance Allen has to Ted Cruz, one of the more cringe-worthy presidential candidates in recent history, is both stunning and frightening.

If I had to use one adjective to describe the picture above I’d say unsettling.

3. His Flamboyant Celebrations

Allen is notorious for hyping up the crowd at home games, but when visiting other schools his “celebrations,” which are mostly just a plethora of strange faces and loud screams, are more frowned upon. At Assembly Hall the previous week, Hoosier fans were quick to start “[….] you Grayson” chants whenever Allen would show emotion during the game. These weren’t subtle chants either, they were LOUD.

4. He Ruined “Everytime We Touch” by Cascada

During Midnight Madness, Duke basketball’s preseason pep rally, Allen chose the song “Everytime We Touch” as his walkout song. For me, the 2005 hit song brings back memories of laser tag and mini-golf and now those memories have been tainted by the thoughts of Grayson Allen childishly jumping and clapping along as Duke fans scream.

Absolute garbage…Grayson is the destroyer of all things good.

5. He Trips Opposing Players

This is the most obvious of the reasons to hate Grayson Allen. He has been involved in three separate incidents in which he was accused of tripping an opposing player. The first two incidents occurred during his sophomore season. It was pretty stupid that he was tripping people in basketball games to begin with, but he was a sophomore and you could blame it on his immaturity. Then again, as a junior, Allen tripped another player in a game versus Elon. The trip went unnoticed originally but the flagrant foul Allen earned himself for a temper tantrum was all over ESPN the next day. This season, thankfully, Allen has kept his name out of the news for emotional flare-ups but he is still known as a dirty player and will probably be remembered as a player who had a knack for being a jerk on the court.

6. He’s Pretty Darn Good

You can trash-talk Grayson all you want, but he still is a good player. It pains me to admit it but he’s clutch, and there is nothing more annoying than a douche who can backup his trash-talk. Allen really burst onto the scene his freshman year during the NCAA tournament with some athletic dunks and a deadly three-point jump shots. Since then, he’s gotten better every single year. He’s averaged double figures in points since his sophomore year and is a team leader, especially this season for a young Blue Devils roster. Say all you want about Grayson Allen but don’t be surprised when he goes off for 35 on your team.