"I'm not condoning it in any way."
That, before any other statement, is the only way to begin an explanation of why Grayson Allen kicked Steven Santa Ana as the Elon guard spun by him Wednesday night.
It's the only way to begin a conversation about Allen's first incident, when he reached out his foot to take down Louisville's Ray Spalding, or the second, when he kicked back to send Florida State's Xavier Rathan-Mayes sprawling to the floor. Those times happened last season.
And there's no defending Allen right now. Even for Allen's high school coach, Jim Martin, who first coached young Grayson in fifth or sixth grade and watched him develop into one of the best high school prospects in the country. When he saw Allen's third tripping incident, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
A lot of words have been thrown around to describe Allen and his actions, but Martin brings up one, however, that is at the heart of the most compelling discussion of Allen the serial tripper:
"Bizarre."
Martin said there were never any kicking or tripping incidents during Allen's high school and middle school days.
The closest Martin's memory can come is a game in middle school. Allen and an opponent dove for a loose ball. After the whistle, both jumped up and stared each other down.
"Both of them looked like that at the drop of a hat, there could be an incident," Martin said. Allen was removed from the game.
"From that point on, the rest of JV and varsity, we never had any incidents," Martin said. "But there was always that ... " -- he pauses, choosing his words carefully -- "as that competitor, there wasn't a time we didn't keep our eyes on him because of the intensity that he played with.
"He was that kid that you might have to go over to and say, 'Hey, it looks like you're taking this game a little too seriously. Next game, I'm going to sit you out. Cool down a little bit.'"
One thing that might help explain the tripping is that Allen grew up playing soccer. And while sticking out a leg to trip an opponent who's escaping up the field is not within the rules in soccer, it's not as out of place as it is on a basketball court. It's a foul. Perhaps a yellow card. But it happens, occasionally.
"I just wonder if he reverts back to an instinctual move," Martin said. "As he's on the ground, or he's using his legs ... basketball players, we foul. We foul with our arms. Somehow, he reverts to some weird soccer background that he has using his legs. Because it is bizarre."
Bizarre. As good of an explanation as any.
Not done yet
The baseball journey of slugger Manny Ramirez has been a long one. Eight seasons with the Cleveland Indians, seven full seasons with the Boston Red Sox, a few seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and handfuls of games with the Chicago White Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays.
And then there are his comeback attempts with the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers. But Manny's not done. He wants his baseball journey to continue on, and he's doing what he can to make it happen.
Manny's wife, Juliana Ramirez, told TMZ sports that her husband is training to make another comeback to professional baseball.
"He is training extremely hard," Juliana says ... "Batting, CrossFit, Orange Theory. He never stops."
TMZ Sports reported that Rameriz has got an offer on the table, but not from an MLB team. It's from an unnamed pro team overseas. Ramirez has actually played overseas before, with the EDA Rhinos of Chinese Professional Baseball in Taiwan. He did pretty well, hitting .352 with eight home runs. But that was more than three years ago, so it could really be anyone.
We'll just have to wait and find out where Manny will be Manny next.
SPORTS QUIZ
Which MLB team did Manny Ramirez serve as a batting consultant for in 2015?
ANSWER
The Chicago Cubs
Sports on 12/25/2016