Duke Villain Grayson Allen Working to Improve His Image—and Draft Status

The controversial Blue Devil wants to show NBA teams his on-court play overrides off-court drama.

Grayson Allen #23 speaks with reporters during Day One of the NBA Draft Combine at Quest MultiSport Complex on May 17, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Grayson Allen #23 speaks with reporters during Day One of the NBA Draft Combine at Quest MultiSport Complex on May 17, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
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Thanks to a number of, shall we say, questionable plays during his four years at Duke, some NBA teams may be wary of picking Grayson Allen, concerned that his off-court baggage isn’t worth his on-court production.

To his credit, Allen is aware of his reputation as a dirty player and is doing what he can to address the issue head-on.

In interviews at the league’s draft combine, Allen tried to excuse the controversial plays he made as Blue Devil as being the result of his competitiveness, not because he is doesn’t want to play fair.

“It’s something you don’t want to put away,” he said. “You don’t want to put competitiveness and emotion away, so you learn to play with it. You learn to use it for your team. That’s what I’ve been saying.”

During his college career, Allen averaged 14.1 points and joined Grant Hill, Jon Scheyer, Danny Ferry, and Johnny Dawkins as the only Duke players with at least 1,900 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists.

As of now, he is projected to go late in the first round of the draft or early in the second round.

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