When you think of Blake Griffin the first emotion isn’t hate, or anger. It’s cracking a smile after he is on Pardon My Take or has you laughing during his Kia commercials. Blake Griffin the basketball player has underperformed the last couple of years. He crashed into the basketball world as the high-flying dunker, that was so freakishly athletic that he rivaled LeBron for the most athletic player. The Clippers built around Blake creating one of the most fun team in Lob City. They sadly never got over the hump as injuries or the team choking failed to bring a Finals appearance to Los Angeles. Then the team exploded CP3 went to Houston, DeAndre left, and Blake was going to be the centerpiece of the Clippers, and then he wasn’t. Blake was traded to Detroit and has wasted his career away in the Motor City. In his 4 years in Detroit Blake only played a total of 138 games. He brought the Pistons to the playoffs once, and Blake was never the same in Detroit. It was actually sad seeing Blake waste away, he was still getting his numbers as he averaged 20.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5 assists, but it was never this.
Now when I think Blake Griffin, I don’t think of laughter. I’m not sad for him, now I get instant anger, and I hate him for joining a super team.
The Brooklyn Nets might have the best offensive team in history with this addition. The only rival is the Steph, KD, Klay, and Draymond Warriors. If Blake can be back to this, Blake, then it’s just a cheat code on offense. Can Blake ever get back to prime Blake? He is 31 years old and has battled a long list of injuries. Was it being miserable in Detroit that made Blake bad? In the bright lights of Brooklyn, will he transform himself back into the high flying athletic machine?
I understand that Blake wants to go to a contender, but he couldn’t pick somewhere else? It had to be Brooklyn. Was Boston, Portland, Miami, Denver not good enough? I would have loved to see Blake play the inside-outside game with both Tatum and Brown. Have Dame drill 30 footers while Blake dances on the baseline, making people look like fools. Have Jimmy Butler mean mug people as Blake laughs and dunks on them. Have Jokic feed filthy lobs to Griffin as they bring back a twin tower-style offense. We won’t see any of that. Instead, we will see Blake have a limited role in Brooklyn as they probably slither to the Finals. Or will they?
Brooklyn doesn’t need help on offense. They already have 3 superstars who can drop 50 on any night. They need role players to play defense and do all of the little things that help make a championship team. I don’t see Blake diving for loose balls and taking charges. I don’t know if his legs can handle the abuse it would take to be a lockdown defender. Who knows, maybe the Nets will score 160 points, and they won’t need defense. Regardless I’m mad at Blake for joining a super team.
