Kelly Olynyk: I Don't Think I'm A Dirty Player

[RealGM Wiretap]

Kelly Olynyk has the mind of a small forward in the body of a center.

Olynyk never played true center until reaching the NBA and his occasionally awkward play has led to several high profile issues. 

“I mean, I don’t think I’m a dirty player; my teammates don’t think I’m a dirty player,” he said. “It’s basketball. It happens. You have to train. You have to box out. You have to do things but it’s not something to focus on, you just go out and play the next game.”

Olynyk's latest issue was when he set a hard screen on Kelly Oubre. Previously, Olynyk has had issues with Hassan Whiteside and Kevin Love.

“I don’t know why [Oubre] reacted like that,” Isaiah Thomas said. “Especially to Kelly. Kelly’s not trying to make anybody mad. Not to put anything on Kelly, but he’s just not like that. I guess you can pick and choose who you want to do that to.”

Via Gary Washburn/Boston Globe

[MARIUSZ]

You are, Olydick.

Hope someone does to you what you did to Kevin Love

[King Stannis]

Most a**holes don't think they're a**holes.

People who intentionally rip people's shoulders out don't get the benefit of the doubt.

[Furinkazan]

what a piece of poop

[ElectricMayhem]

[boston_fan_ct]

Stop being a wuss and play the game. No intent on that play, and that statement backed up by nba choice of no discipline to Kelly O. That type of pick happens all the time. Many times with no foul called at all, it depends on the player making the pick.

[SuperDeluxe]

It's easy to see that most posters who are commenting here have never seen Olynyk play. The guy must be the softest, most tender, most gentle player in the league. His body is made of soft tissue paper and in his previous life he was a teddy bear. He probably apologizes every time he's called for a personal foul, even if it was the wrong call.

I'm not even exaggerating.

[arasu]

This guy likes to armlock people, which other players do, but he tends to hold on too long. He also likes to move his body upward at the point of impact on screens he sets, probably to absorb some of the force. Unfortunately that can turn into a lot of force against the guy he is screening. The armlocks are clearly intentional. The screens are awkward looking, but he doesn't move much more than other pick-setters in today's game. Since the league has loosened up what counts as a moving screen in this P&R era, it's hard to blame Olynyk for his moving screens. He may be as soft as big men go, but he is a little dirty.

[FriedRise]

[macNcheese3]

He's just trying to go out there and help his team win. It wasn't a dirty play, things happen. What Oubre did was unprofessional and dirty IMO.

[Pickled Prunes]

He's just trying to go out there and help his team win. It wasn't a dirty play, things happen. What Oubre did was unprofessional and dirty IMO.

Yep. It was a foul because he leaned in. But he did that to brace for the impact; there was no intent to cause harm. Oubre just didn't see him.

[dan-man]

You can defend him all day long, but at a certain point the questionable track record begins to speak volumes. If he isn't dirty, he's clearly negligent and endangering other players on a regular basis. He needs to be held accountable for that.

[xchange55]

You can defend him all day long, but at a certain point the questionable track record begins to speak volumes. If he isn't dirty, he's clearly negligent and endangering other players on a regular basis. He needs to be held accountable for that.

Aside from the Love incident - what else has he done? Can't help it if Oubre is just a little girl. BTW nobody outside of CLE thinks the Love injury was intentional. Kelly O doesn't event have the coordination skills to pull that off if he wanted to.

[dan-man]

You can defend him all day long, but at a certain point the questionable track record begins to speak volumes. If he isn't dirty, he's clearly negligent and endangering other players on a regular basis. He needs to be held accountable for that.

Aside from the Love incident - what else has he done? Can't help it if Oubre is just a little girl. BTW nobody outside of CLE thinks the Love injury was intentional. Kelly O doesn't event have the coordination skills to pull that off if he wanted to.

Didn't he just low bridge John Wall a few days ago? That was awkward and suspect.

[SuperDeluxe]

Once again, some laughable comments here. One of the reasons many Celtics fans don't like Olynyk is because he approaches the game like a 13-year-old girl playing against other 13-year-old girls. There is absolutely NO WAY in the world that this player, of all people, is dirty. If there are 450 players in the NBA, he ranks somewhere between 448 and 450 in the dirtiness ranking.

The thing with Love's arm was a freak accident. If Kelly Oubre hadn't reacted like way he did, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

You need to watch the games, not just the highlights.

[qm22]

Usually I'd take "I don't think I am dirty" to be a tacit admission. Most people try to defend themselves a little harder, offer some excuses, etc. E.g., "I play the way other people do", "it's the playoffs", "it looks dirty but actually it was a trick of the camera, I was just going hard for that ball", "it's hustle, not dirty play, hater, I'm focused on championships".

[qm22]

Once again, some laughable comments here. One of the reasons many Celtics fans don't like Olynyk is because he approaches the game like a 13-year-old girl playing against other 13-year-old girls. There is absolutely NO WAY in the world that this player, of all people, is dirty. If there are 450 players in the NBA, he ranks somewhere between 448 and 450 in the dirtiness ranking.

The thing with Love's arm was a freak accident. If Kelly Oubre hadn't reacted like way he did, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

You need to watch the games, not just the highlights.

Come on dude, you act like Kelly Olynyk is a spaceship which has difficult to handle controls. He was unintentionally locking arms and yanking while running, with enough force for a dislocation...but had no awareness of it? It's not like they were battling for a rebound and came down awkwardly and lost control.

I don't even like Love and am not a Cavs fan. But the guy ruined the playoffs for Love, for nothing, and potentially changed the ultimate champion winner too. He has to be accountable for what he does, regardless of how you feel he is a nice guy.

[SuperDeluxe]

Once again, some laughable comments here. One of the reasons many Celtics fans don't like Olynyk is because he approaches the game like a 13-year-old girl playing against other 13-year-old girls. There is absolutely NO WAY in the world that this player, of all people, is dirty. If there are 450 players in the NBA, he ranks somewhere between 448 and 450 in the dirtiness ranking.

The thing with Love's arm was a freak accident. If Kelly Oubre hadn't reacted like way he did, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

You need to watch the games, not just the highlights.

Come on dude, you act like Kelly Olynyk is a spaceship which has difficult to handle controls. He was unintentionally locking arms and yanking while running, with enough force for a dislocation...but had no awareness of it? It's not like they were battling for a rebound and came down awkwardly and lost control.

I don't even like Love and am not a Cavs fan. But the guy ruined the playoffs for Love, for nothing, and potentially changed the ultimate champion winner too. He has to be accountable for what he does, regardless of how you feel he is a nice guy.

I'm done posting on this thread. I advise again, however, not just watching the one play. Olynyk ranks low on the dirtiness scale, and very high on the discoordination scale. Trying to convince Celtics fans that Olynyk is dirty is like trying to convince Warriors fans that Curry can't shoot threes.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

You can defend him all day long, but at a certain point the questionable track record begins to speak volumes. If he isn't dirty, he's clearly negligent and endangering other players on a regular basis. He needs to be held accountable for that.

Aside from the Love incident - what else has he done? Can't help it if Oubre is just a little girl. BTW nobody outside of CLE thinks the Love injury was intentional. Kelly O doesn't event have the coordination skills to pull that off if he wanted to.

Doing the same thing to Lopez that he did to Love, clearly intentional that he grabs a players arm and locks it without regard to whether or not it could hurt them. He's dirty.

[My2CentsR]

You can defend him all day long, but at a certain point the questionable track record begins to speak volumes. If he isn't dirty, he's clearly negligent and endangering other players on a regular basis. He needs to be held accountable for that.

Aside from the Love incident - what else has he done? Can't help it if Oubre is just a little girl. BTW nobody outside of CLE thinks the Love injury was intentional. Kelly O doesn't event have the coordination skills to pull that off if he wanted to.

Doing the same thing to Lopez that he did to Love, clearly intentional that he grabs a players arm and locks it without regard to whether or not it could hurt them. He's dirty.

So glad someone found this pic, it was trending on the Bulls board during our series. Yes, he plays dirty. Just because someone's not dirty in the obvious big, aggressive dude that hits someone over the head sort of way doesn't mean he's not dirty. Olynyk may have a squishy body and may not be as effective as Boston would like but that doesn't negate the fact that he continues to make dirty plays that have already injured other players (pulling at the shoulder during the bulls game recently was one example). He's like Dellavadova, dirty in a sneaky way, just squishier and with an oily headband.