Kelly Olynyk’s style of play has made him one of the less-liked players in the NBA, but he feels that his reputation is a bit overblown.
Speaking with reporters on Saturday, the Boston Celtics big man brushed off the suggestion that he plays dirty.
“I don’t think I’m a dirty player,” said Olynyk, per A. Sherrod Blakely of CSN New England. “My teammates don’t think I’m a dirty player. It’s basketball. It happens. You have to set a screen, box out, you have to do a lot of things. It’s not something you focus on. You just go out there and play the next game.”
Olynyk found his way back in the news Thursday when he leveled Washington Wizards forward Kelly Oubre with a hard screen in Game 3 of their second-round series. Oubre retaliated with a two-handed shove of Olynyk and sparked a mini-melee between the two teams (video here). Olynyk was not punished for the incident, but Oubre drew a suspension for Sunday’s Game 4.
It wasn’t an isolated occurrence for Olynyk (remember the infamous Kevin Love injury from two years ago?), so the rest of the Association probably doesn’t quite agree with the Gonzaga product’s assessment of himself.
