One can make the argument that Blake Griffin is the most important player in the history of the LA Clippers. Since their move to Los Angeles, the Clippers had always been considered the B-team in LA, behind the much more successful Los Angeles Lakers.
But for the most part in the 2010s, the Clippers were the better team in LA. That was in large part due to Blake Griffin. Griffin was the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft and within a few years, became a perennial All-Star for the Clippers.
His presence also allowed the Clippers to form an incredible tandem between Griffin and Chris Paul. CP3 and Griffin led the Clippers in the ‘Lob City’ era, which was named as such because of players like Griffin and DeAndre Jordan being able to finish alley-oops on a regular basis.
But it all came to a disappointing end. Griffin was abruptly traded in 2018 to the Detroit Pistons. Thus ended the stint of one of the most important players in Clippers’ franchise history. Even Griffin looked back on his stint negatively, saying he didn’t accomplish anything with the Clippers.
There seemed to have been a lot of animosity between the Clippers organization and Griffin when the trade happened. But he seems to have made peace with the move now.
In an interview with Graham Bensinger, Griffin discussed his move from the Clippers (2:11 mark). While he understood the decision from a franchise point of view, he does feel that the Clippers should have extended some respect to him even on a human level, so that they could have discussed the best deal for all parties.
“I understand for sure. Through a business point of view, I completely understand. A team wants to go a certain way, they had a plan. They wanted to win a championship very quickly. And they didn’t think that was going to happen with me there. I totally get that. The only thing is we kind of wish they’d gone about it a different way. Just sort of like I guess the respect of having, letting your agent know so that hopefully both parties can work out a deal that they both want, both works for them.”
The Clippers became championship contenders for the first time during Griffin’s stint in LA. But the franchise eventually decided to blow up the team, as they weren’t able to get past the big teams in the Western Conference like OKC, Memphis, Golden State, or the Spurs.
What could have been the greatest player in the history of the franchise, the one who could have brought them championship success, was quickly ousted and shown the door, despite everything he had done for the franchise, and even putting them in the position they are today, to land 2 superstars and be a championship contender.
