Let’s get straight to it: Is Boston Celtics forward Kelly Olynyk a dirty player? If you ask him, obviously not. But the room seems split between his teammates and opposing players.
Is Kelly Olynyk a dirty player? The jury is split
While some have called out Olynyk for being a dirty player, others — teammates and opponents — have come to his defense.
Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Olynyk made a name for himself in the 2015 Eastern Conference first round when he locked arms with Kevin Love, separating his shoulder after battling for a rebound. The NBA suspended the Celtics forward one game, while Love missed the rest of the playoffs and watched idly as his Cavaliers lost in the NBA Finals.
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His reputation recently took another hit in Game 3 of Boston’s second-round playoff series against the Washington Wizards. Olynyk set two illegal screens on Kelly Oubre Jr., which prompted the Wizards forward to charge Olynyk full speed. Oubre was ejected and later suspended a game.
Still, Olynyk doesn’t think he’s a dirty player:
“That’s ridiculous,” said Olynyk, according to CBS Boston. “I know what I am, what I do and what I stand for. My teammates know, and that’s all that matters.”
Some disagree.
Chief among those with grievances to air is Love, whose shoulder Olynyk wrenched out two years ago. Immediately after that fateful game, the All-Star forward had some words:
“I thought it was a bush-league play. I have no doubt in my mind he did it on purpose,” Love said, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “That’s just not a basketball play. The league will take a look at it and it better be swift and just.”
Some agreed with Love at the time, including then-Nets forward Earl Clark:
“You pull down you’re obviously trying to hurt somebody. I’m just being honest. That’s what I saw,” Clark said, according to the New York Daily News. “I’ve gotten cheap shots before, elbows, that’s fine. But trying to pull somebody’s arm of the socket? C’mon, he knew what he was doing.”
Raptors forward DeMarre Carroll saw it a different way:
“It’s a lot of grabbing in the NBA, a lot of locking,” Carroll said, via the Daily News. “I think he just got tangled up. I don’t think it was a dirty play. It was a misfortunate play, but not a dirty one. They got tangled up and it happened.”
It would have helped Olynyk’s case had he not attempted the same type of armbar on Robin Lopez this season.
Oubre also voiced his opinion on Olynyk’s screens, saying he had “been hit in the head multiple times by the same person” and “felt pain in [his] head and jaw” before charging at him.
That was enough for Draymond Green, who flat-out diced Olynyk on a recent episode of his Dray Dray Podcast on UNINTERRUPTED.
“He’s dirty, a dirty player,” Green said. “I don’t respect guys like that. I know he’s not the greatest basketball player of all time, so maybe he feel like he got to do that, but you don’t have to do that. Just dirty. I don’t respect that, man. He’s dirty.”
But Olynyk’s team has his back.
Celtics All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas blasted Green first before coming to Olynyk’s aid:
“I don’t know how he can call anybody dirty,” Thomas said of Green before switching topics to his teammate. “[Olynyk is] nowhere near dirty. A couple of occasions, wrong time, wrong place. Things happen in basketball, especially physical playoff basketball. He’s definitely not dirty.”
Avery Bradley echoed a similar sentiment:
“I think Kelly is far from a dirty guy,” Bradley said, via ESPN. “I’m pretty sure some guys might have their opinion on Draymond with some of the plays that he’s made in the past. But I don’t care. Everybody’s going to say whatever they want. We’re just focused on winning the game tomorrow. That’s the most important thing for us as a team.”
As did Celtics head coach Brad Stevens.
Of course Olynyk’s teammates aren’t going to call him dirty. It would go against the code. But his history does spark an interesting conversation: Where is the line when it comes to being a dirty player, and who’s crossed it?
Green was labeled a dirty player after high-kicking players in the groin and almost in the face. Matthew Dellavedova and Andrew Bogut have been labeled dirty players, in part from actual dirty plays, but also in part due to their Australian lineage. As has Zaza Pachulia, who’s become one of the league’s bad guys.
Olynyk dislocated K-Love’s shoulder, and put Lopez in a similar position. He also set two hard screens that Oubre took exception to.
That’s not enough to indict Olynyk as a dirty player, but it does warrant a few raised eyebrows. What he does next could determine whether he’s straddled that line or crossed it altogether.
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