Bruce Bowen’s reputation precedes him.
During his playing days, he was a great defender. He was also considered a dirty defender, loathed by his opponents and (likely) adored by his teammates. Think of him as a good samaritan who hated tourists. That’s how I’d put it.
Better than his defensive sets was his honesty. At least, that’s how it is now. While talking to Guillermo Garcia of marca.com, Bowen admitted that fans were sometimes right about tactics being dirty. He also acknowledged that he once deliberately hurt Ray Allen while the three-point aficionado was on the Seattle Supersonics (Spanish to English translations were obtained from HoopsHype and using Google Chrome):
Q: You have been one of the great defenders of the NBA and one of the toughest players, often bordering with illegality in their actions. Do you think your reputation as a tough player and dirty sometimes justified?
A: I understand that those comments come from rival fans and sometimes they were right. But never did it intentionally to hurt anyone. There was only one other time that I did it deliberately and that was when I gave him a kick to Ray Allen when he played in Seattle. He was in front and I gave mine and when I thought: ‘What did I just do?’. I regret a lot of that play. But in other situations there is no repentance because there was no intent to injure or harm anyone. Sometimes rivals fell on my foot and the other was me falling over his. But there was no intent.
I’m a huge fan of players being brutally honest, so almost (but not quite) needless to say, I love this.
There were plenty of times when I watched Bowen during the latter years of his career and thought “Man, this guy is dirty.” Not once did I think he was the NBA equivalent of a hitman, though. I thought he was smart, because he was smart. Some of his strategies were excessive, and I also can’t help but wonder if there wasn’t another time outside the Allen debacle that he hurt someone on purpose, but he got the job done without garnering the title of “The Enforcer.”
This is a guy who Gregg Popovich often tasked with defending the best wing scorer on the opposing team. To gain that kind of faith from Coach Pop, one has to be more than dirty. You have to be effective, you have to be good at what you do. And yeah, you sometimes can’t hesitate to get your hands “dirty.”
Let us not forget that Bowen won three championships while with the San Antonio Spurs. What he did on the defensive end from a lateral movement standpoint was incredible. I still can’t get over how good he was at stopping dribble penetration before it happened.
Liken him to an older version of Shane Battier. Neither have been prone to filling up the box score. Not with points, steals or blocks. But they both remain one of the more calculated defenders the league has seen, relying more on their wit and anticipation than anything else. I respect that.
En route to defensive dominance, were there some questionable methods employed? Duh. Of course there were. Especially for Bowen, whose rep as a dirty player seems to run deeper than Battier’s. And Bowen doesn’t deny it. Which I love. And unless your name is Ray Allen, he also isn’t sorry. Which I also love.
Cherish Bowen’s apology, then, Ray-Ray. Much like Halley’s Comet, a Carmelo Anthony assist and a good Pauly Shore movie, his displays of remorse don’t come around very often.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
