In the era of soft-touch, finesse basketball, Hunter Dickinson is an anomaly.

The Kansas basketball center plays with a rare level of fire, power and competitive spirit that makes him seem like he came straight out of a bygone era. He’s the kind of player who thrives on contact, embraces physicality and isn’t afraid to get under the skin of his opponents.

But as we saw Tuesday night in his blatant foul against Duke in the Jayhawks’ 75-72 win, there’s a fine line between being tough and crossing over into reckless.

Let’s be clear: Dickinson is everything you want in a player: fierce, driven and full of heart. He plays with the kind of passion that is rare in today’s college game, where the emphasis often shifts to speed and style over substance.

He’s the kind of player who brings intensity to the field, the guy who isn’t afraid to mix things up, take a hit or throw one. That kind of attitude is what makes Kansas basketball so difficult to play against.

It fuels the team culture and creates a force that flows through the entire squad.

But here’s where it gets tricky: passion is one thing, but crossing the line into retaliation is another.

Dickinson’s ejection on Tuesday after a flagrant foul was a moment of pure frustration. Sure, he jockeyed for position and fought for every rebound, but he let the fire get the better of him.

We’ve seen it before.

The big man is no stranger to being in the thick of things, but when does that fiery passion start to hurt his team? The Jayhawks’ defense struggled without him on the floor, and it was a reminder that Dickinson’s raw competitiveness, while inspiring, sometimes puts his team in a tough spot.

So do we value players like Dickinson? Yes. His old-school mentality is something basketball could use more of.

It’s refreshing in a sport that’s more about emphasizing skill than strength. Players like him remind us what it means to compete at the highest level: to want it so bad that you’re willing to fight for every inch. But we must also recognize that this type of personality carries the risk of allowing emotions to take over, especially in the heat of a game.

Dickinson’s passion is undeniable, but he needs to channel it more effectively. Retaliation, no matter how justified it may feel at the time, is never the right response.

His intensity could be a gift for Kansas, but only if he can learn when to turn it off before it goes too far.

It’s the perfect storm. Dickinson is the player every team would love to have, the kind of tough, gritty force that seems to be fading from the college game.

His competitive advantage is something the sport could use more of. But like any great player, his challenge is to know where that line is and make sure he doesn’t cross it.

Because when he does that, not only does the game suffer, but so does his team.

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