Allen says fight with Mayo on plane is ‘behind us’
January 7th, 2011 Posted in NBA basketball newsGrizzlies guards Tony Allen and O.J. Mayo said Thursday there are no hard feelings after they fought on a team flight over an unpaid debt from a card game.
Allen said he and Mayo shook hands and joked around as they shot together at practice Thursday, three days after the altercation on a Monday flight back to Memphis from Los Angeles.
“Me, O.J. and the team, we pretty much had a whole practice on focusing on our offense and getting better with our defense,” Allen said. “I pretty much think its behind us. Thats how were looking at it at this point.”
Mayo said the team was focusing on Fridays game against the Utah Jazz. Mayo has been suffering from bronchitis, and he missed Tuesdays 110-105 win over Oklahoma City at home.
“There definitely was an altercation between me and T.A.,” Mayo said. “By the way, thats one of my good friends on this team. So, no hard feelings amongst each other.”
According to reports, Mayo owed Allen money following the card game and became increasingly angry toward Allen when asked to settle the debt. The men had to be separated by teammates.
Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said Wednesday the team has banned gambling on team flights.
The gambling ban includes bus rides and “anytime players are on official business with our team,” Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace said Thursday.
Hollins had both players apologize and said the team showed it responded well to the fight by beating Oklahoma City on Tuesday.
“Its not an issue,” Hollins said. “Its like spraining your ankle. You get up, you tape it, you keep playing. You have an altercation, you shake hands, its over. You move forward.”
Some players said the fight has been overblown by the media. Hollins said media interest in the fight is high because people love gossip.
“They dont want to know the news of the fight, they want to know the juice of the fight, and thats unfortunate,” Hollins said. “Its why we have so many reality shows. They want to see peoples dirty lives …
“We like dirt,” Hollins continued. “We read [magazine], we read , we watch on TV. Everybody wants to know the dirt on people who have money or who are celebrities to see that Oh, theyre just like us.”
Mayo, the No. 3 pick overall in 2008, is coming off the bench and averaging 13.2 points per game. Allen, signed this offseason, scored a season-high 19 points in the win over the Thunder.
At least two NBA teams banned gambling on the team plane a year ago after a card game between Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton turned into an argument in the locker room the led to gun play. Arenas brought four guns into the locker room in what he both players are no longer with Washington.
Arenas was suspended 50 games last season for bringing a gun into the locker room, spent two days in jail and time at a halfway house for felony gun possession.
On Thursday, Mayo said that if there was anything he could take back, it would be “the embarrassment to yourself and to the organization.”
“We cant let something this small come between me and him as friends and definitely as teammates, and definitely divide up and mess up this team,” Mayo said.
“Weve got a great relationship amongst everybody on the team. All love each other, all for each other, and weve just got to move forward.”
