Alex Caruso‘s wrist is broken. He will miss the next 6-8 weeks of action for the Bulls. Grayson Allen, the person who knocked out Caruso and caused his injury, has been suspended by the NBA for one game. If that seems a little off balance, you have common sense.
For those who haven’t seen Friday night’s play in the Milwaukee Bucks‘ 94-90 win over the Bulls, this is definitely not a basketball game. Caruso is in the air for a layup of a fastbreak when Allen clotheslines him, Bill Laimbeer style, out of the air.
It would be reasonable for the Bulls to be furious with this suspension. Could a member of their team miss two months of action while the person who hurt them misses a night? It could absolutely result in vigilante justice when the two teams meet again in March. The NBA didn’t send a clear enough message with a one-game suspension that this type of behavior won’t be tolerated, so now the Bulls need to send a message to the rest of the league that no matter what the league does , that low blows will not be tolerated.
The first contact can be forgiven. It can be plausibly argued that Allen went up to make a play on the ball and fell on Caruso’s arm. He jumped into Caruso a bit recklessly for a pro athlete, but there has to be room for people to make aggressive plays. However, Allen then decides to take his second arm and swing it. To do what, exactly? In a discord message he explained that after trying to block the shot, and while he was “spinning” he tried to grab the ball with his other hand and accidentally hit Caruso again.
Spinning?! You know who was spinning, Caruso who was already level after Allen hit him like one of those Angry Birds in Geico advertising. Afterwards, Allen attempts to explain the blow he landed with his other arm with an excuse to try and get the ball back. It’s an absurd explanation, because he never touched the ball. The combination of his body arm making contact with Caruso’s arm and the referee’s whistle should be a dead sign that he’s completely missed the ball.
Also, who raises their arm to try to retrieve a basketball? When trying to catch a rebound or retrieve a stray ball, the goal is for players to get their hands on the basketball as quickly as possible. It doesn’t happen if you stretch your arm backwards like a pro wrestler attempting a sharp chop. And again, Allen didn’t touch any balls. Instead, he got the whole back of Caruso’s head, causing him to hit the ground harder.
As bad as Allen’s reputation is – he’s a person who has ejected of a Summer League game as a rookie – it shouldn’t affect his punishment. It’s not necessary. The act speaks for itself. Allen made a reckless play at best, malicious at worst, on an airborne player that resulted in a serious injury. There’s no place for that in the NBA. Sure, this game and the salary Allen won’t receive for missing this game will hurt, but not as much as Caruso’s wrist or the Bulls’ rotation.
The NBA has had a mission for decades to eliminate excessive physical contact from its game. Nowadays, a player can receive a flagrant foul in today’s game for leaving a foot too far when an opposing player gets up for a jump shot.
The fouls of the 1980s and 1990s needed to be punished harder if the NBA wanted the fights of those decades to stop happening. Now, in 2022, when presented with a foul that would have gotten Allen punched in the face immediately in 1994, the NBA didn’t go far enough with its punishment. Certainly not enough for the Bulls, who may be looking to do justice at the United Center in March.
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