The Grayson Allen – J.J. Redick comparisons are so easy to make that I feel guilty about making them. Journalism feels like it should require more effort than this. My viewers deserve hard-hitting, well-researched video descriptions but I’m sitting here grabbing all the low-hanging fruit that I can.
Allen and Redick are both 6’4″-ish. They both look like they have T-Rex arms. They’re both white. They both have names that are just a little bit douchey. They both went to Duke. Both were hated when they went to Duke. And they both specialize in three-point shooting. The main difference between them is that Allen was hated for legitimate reasons (he was too fond of tripping people/otherwise playing dirty) while Redick was only hated because he was too damn good and fans from opposing schools just couldn’t come to grips with it.
I’m not saying that Allen is destined to become the next Redick, since Redick is a very good player who has played a vital role on many deep-advancing playoff teams (a high bar to clear for Allen), but remember: Redick wasn’t good right away. Neither was Allen. If Allen follows the same career trajectory, come back to this video in a decade and tell me I was right.