Friday’s Hot Clicks: Grayson Allen Got Ejected for Doing Grayson Allen Things

No matter how much the NBA changes, Grayson Allen stays the same.

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Grayson Allen is at it again

As the non-stop upheaval of the NBA offseason leaves the league landscape looking more and more unfamiliar every day, we can take solace in the fact that one thing will never change. Grayson Allen will always be a goon. 

Allen, whose Duke tenure is most memorable not for the NCAA championship but for his constant thuggery, was ejected from a Summer League game on Thursday night after a pair of incidents with Celtics rookie Grant Williams. 

Allen, now playing for the Grizzlies after being sent from Utah in the Mike Conley trade, first shoved Williams to the ground and was issued a Flagrant 1 foul. He was then ejected after a taking a swing at Williams’s head on the very next play. 

ESPN commentator Dan Dakich nailed it with his analysis there. Allen isn’t even a tough player. If he was a gritty, physical player like Grizzlies legend Tony Allen he’d be able to get away with that kind of behavior. But he actually tends to shy away from contact during the course of play, which makes his little outbursts seem petulant and cowardly more than anything. 

The NBA never sleeps

Just when you thought the NBA news cycle had died down, the Thunder had to go out and trade Russell Westbrook to the Rockets. It’s an equally risky for both teams, with OKC deciding to blow up its entire core in the span of less than a week and the Rockets mortgaging their future to bet on a Harden-Westbrook pairing. 

Thunder fans are no doubt in shock, but no one has been as thoroughly humiliated as the mayor of Oklahoma City. When the Thunder failed to make any major moves at the opening of free agency, Mayor David Holt tweeted that he glad to see the team running it back with the same guys. 

If you ask me, a quiet free agency is a blessing when you’ve still got an MVP & an MVP finalist on your roster. Presuming better health, a second full year to hone this dynamic, the return of Roberson, plus renewed league parity, I like our squad just fine. #GoodToBeAThunder pic.twitter.com/zDiVf1j5YF

— Mayor David Holt (@davidfholt) June 30, 2019

This, of course, comes after he celebrated George’s 2018 decision to re-sign by giving him his own day. 

It’s now official - Paul George is here to stay. In recognition of PG13’s commitment to our city & in anticipation of the journey ahead, I am declaring Saturday, July 7th to be PAUL GEORGE DAY in Oklahoma City. #ThunderUp #PG13 #1OKC pic.twitter.com/laZyKR4eE2

— Mayor David Holt (@davidfholt) July 6, 2018

That’s alright, though. Mayor Holt can dedicate a whole week to the eight first-round picks the Thunder acquired in their recent flurry of activity. 

The best of SI

The Rockets trading for Russell Westbrook reeks of desperation. ... All-America lacrosse star Pat Spencer is transitioning to basketball at Northwestern. ... How did respected Penn assistant hoops coach Jerome Allen get caught up in the college sports bribery scandal? ... Trevor Lawrence can’t enter the draft for two years but NFL teams are already preparing for his arrival. 

Around the sports world

Titans coach Mike Vrabel, who already has three Super Bowl rings as a player, says he’s chop his manhood off to get one as a coach. ... Marshawn Lynch and Marcus Peters paid for a carnival day for a bunch of kids back home in Oakland. ... Hue Jackson says his pathetic run with the Browns was actually “some of the best coaching I did.”

Hockey players can’t dance

How else would Kerr deal with that chronic back pain?

Nick Young was asked yesterday on 95.7 The Game who rolls the best blunt in the NBA. His answer?

Steve Kerr.

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) July 11, 2019

Smooth as butter

👟 Changing your shoe without getting off the bike, check for Mikael Chérel. ✅

👟 Changer de chaussure sans descendre du vélo, check for @mikaelcherel. ✅#TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/yLzeDfH5yv

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 12, 2019

Nothing to see here

Imagine being so good at golf that getting a hole-in-one is this small of a dealpic.twitter.com/c6u0vJ1g6b

— SI Golf (@SI_Golf) July 11, 2019

Father-son team

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A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour)

Someone pulled the trigger a little early

Cricket is a contact sport

Running repairs 🤕 Alex Carey battles on #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/NkIQ4lMQZ5

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) July 11, 2019

Don’t write checks your face can’t cash

Not sports

An impenetrable 3,000-pound safe was discovered under the parking lot of a Chicago synagogue. ... A bright blue body of water in Siberia popular with Instagram influencers is actually just a bunch of toxic waste. ... A Colombian bishop will sprinkle holy water from a helicopter to exorcise an entire city. ... Metallica is coming out with a children’s book. 

Coast Guard storms a drug-smuggling submarine

Worst commute ever

Heads Up TRAFFIC ALERT🚨 I-670 westbound is closed @ Oak due to a cleanup of a semi spill of uhhhh...... Pig Guts. Hold your noses, and avoid the area for now. pic.twitter.com/75DF54LVIW

— kcpolice (@kcpolice) July 11, 2019

Dave Bautista is so funny

A good song

Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.