One was considered a dirty player and the other one was viewed as being extremely cocky. Grayson Allen had quite a reputation for tripping players while a member of the Duke University basketball team. Many years before, JJ Redick was considered the cockiest player in basketball when he was playing for the Blue Devils. Recently, the two got together and discussed which player was hated more when they were playing at Duke.

Grayson Allen’s reputation

In 2018, Grayson Allen came into the NBA with a reputation. He was the guy from Duke who used to intentionally trip people. Whether it was a trip or a flagrant foul, Allen has a reputation for being a dirty player and a whiner. Allen was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 21st overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft.

Allen played his college basketball at Duke. Duke is that school that is always in the mix for a national title. It’s the school that people love to hate. Grayson Allen went to the school people love to hate and he became the most hated player while he was there.

Within a three-week span at Duke in 2016, Allen intentionally tripped two opposing players. He was ripped apart on social media. He was ridiculed wherever he went. Allen admitted he understood why people were saying nasty things to him. “I can’t blame people for saying what they did,” Grayson said to ESPN in 2016. “I probably would have said the exact same thing.”

JJ Redick’s reputation

JJ Redick was one of the nation’s top 3-point shooters while he was playing college basketball at Duke. He would also let you know that. Redick was a trash-talker. He was cocky and had that swagger that he said wasn’t him. He became a hated man and things got so bad he nearly quit the game he loved and had to go see a therapist.

“It f—ed me up,” Redick said during an April interview on the “Pardon My Take” podcast. “It forced me to take on a persona that was not me. There are not too many 18-year-old, 19-year-old kids who are really comfortable with who they are. You’re still at the point in your life where you are trying to figure things out.”

Things got so bad for Redick that he was ready to call it quits. “December of that year, I had my sisters meet me on campus, and they came over for dinner, and I was like ‘I don’t want to play anymore, this is not for me, it’s not fun.’ I really struggled those first two years — it was really hard for me,” he said.

Was Allen or Redick hated more at Duke?

Grayson Allen was a recent guest on JJ Redick’s podcast and Redick posed the question. Between Allen and Redick, who was hated more? “The only reason I would say myself is because of social media,” Allen answered. “I became a meme for months. I wasn’t on Twitter, but I had friends sending me videos they thought was funny, photoshopped of me lying on the ground with my leg up, tripping random people.

“If you take out social media and you just go with crowds and the national media… I’ve seen some of the videos of you, I think it was Maryland where some of the chants of the crowd were on par or maybe even worse. If you go just game atmosphere, you might have me on that.”

Redick agreed social media played a big role, but felt he had to share what he went through. “In one game my sophomore year, these four things happened,” Redick said. “I come out for warmups and there’s this sign that says, “JJ drinks his own pee.” Hilarious. There’s also a sign that makes a reference to a lewd sex act with my 12-year-old sister. Then, there’s a group of students in the front row that have these custom t-shirts made. It’s a picture of me and they say “When I grow up, I want to name my kid JJ Redick” and on the back, it says “and beat him every day.” Then, the Baltimore Ravens owner starts talking s–t to me. I’m having a good game so I start yapping back. This incites other people in the stands to start yelling things at me and then at the end of the game, I’m hitting the game-clinching free throws and the entire arena starts chanting ‘F–k you JJ.’ That was one game.”