The Phoenix Suns were in Brooklyn on Monday night to play the Nets. And Nets analyst Tim Capstraw gave voice to what we’ve all been thinking for years – Grayson Allen is a doppelganger for a young Ted Cruz.
Capstraw just reached a personal milestone of calling 2,000 consecutive Nets games. Usually he’s working on the radio side, but last night he was on the YES Network television broadcast alongside Ryan Ruocco.
And after a foul was called, Capstraw had the perfect opportunity to make the comparison.
Brooklyn Nets announcer (color commentator), Tim Capstraw, on Grayson Allen: “I can’t look at him and not think of Ted Cruz.” pic.twitter.com/YPWwQWT1Z2
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) January 20, 2026
“I can’t look at him and not think of Ted Cruz,” Capstraw said.
Ryan Ruocco seemed stunned at the revelation, as if it’s been in the back of his mind for years and the light bulb finally went on.
“Man, that is an incredible… you are spot on man,” Ruocco said.
“I’m not Mr. Politics or anything, I don’t want to get into that. But that guy, that’s a young Ted Cruz to me,” Capstraw continued.
And that’s when Capstraw had the perfect punchline to punctuate the conversation.
“I think Ted should feel good about that,” Ruocco remarked.
“I’ll bet Grayson doesn’t feel good about it though,” the analyst joked.
The Ted Cruz-Grayson Allen memes have actually been around for years, ever since Allen burst onto the national scene during his college days at Duke. The pair even posed for a picture together all the way back in 2018.
But a lot has happened in seven years. Allen is now in his 8th year in the NBA playing for his fourth team. He’s averaged 10.9 points per game and has made the odd controversial play here and there, just like he did during his Duke days. Cruz remains a United States senator from Texas who is most known for cursing his favorite sports teams, abandoning constituents during a hurricane, and confessing his undying loyalty to Donald Trump.
And yet through all of that, they somehow both seem to be aging in lockstep together.