Before the Los Angeles Clippers drafted Blake Griffin in 2009, they were the butt of every NBA joke imaginable. No one took the Clippers seriously, and it didn't help that they played in the same city—not to mention under the same roof—as a certain other Los Angeles basketball franchise that has won 16 championships.
But then, Griffin changed the culture.
He sat out his first season due to a knee injury, but then, during the 2010-11 campaign, Griffin took the NBA world by storm, averaging an incredible 22.5 points and 12.1 boards as a rookie to make the All-Star team.
As a result, the Clippers were able to trade for Chris Paul before the start of the 2011-12 season, giving them a trio of Griffin, Paul and DeAndre Jordan, a big three that would go on to post six consecutive playoff appearances.
Now, people don't make fun of the Clippers anymore, and Griffin, who was traded to the Detroit Pistons last season, is proud to have been a part of that transformation:
“I'm proud to be part of the rebranding of the franchise,” said Griffin, according to Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN. “It was like a movement. People don't think about the Clippers today the way they did. I remember when I was about to get drafted and I think it was Bill Simmons who wrote a piece about how I should I hold out and tell them I don't want to get drafted there. Tons of people were saying, ‘You don't want to go to the Clippers.'”
Griffin will return to Los Angeles for the first time as an opponent on Saturday.
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