Sports Radio Interviews

Blake Griffin’s Rookie Year Hasn’t Gone According to Plan

Maybe the Clippers are cursed. They have possibly the worst owner in sports, they play in the same building as the Lakers and they have a dwindling fan base. Not to mention, the franchise has made horrible decisions over the past 20 years and they have had some bad luck involved as well. It would take me way too long to identify all the poor things that the Clips have done recently, but bad draft picks have to be right there at the top of the list. Since 1980, Los Angeles has made 39 first round draft picks and just two of them have made an NBA All Star team. I know the draft is a crapshoot and nobody hits on all their picks, but misses to the magnitude of some of theirs will set a franchise back a number of years and lead the franchise to consistently draft in the top ten. On top of that, they have had some recent bad luck with injuries as well. Elton Brand blew out his Achilles, Shaun Livingston ripped his knee to shreds effectively ending his Clipper career far too early and now Blake Griffin has missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury.

Griffin was supposed to be the player that would help turn the franchise around. When the Clippers won the Blake Griffin sweepstakes, Clippers fans started to party in Los Angeles. He has a ton of talent. When Griffin was at Oklahoma, he was like a man playing against a bunch of boys in college and has a rare combination of size, speed, strength and athleticism. This past summer in the NBA summer league, Griffin tore it up and he looked ready to make a splash in his rookie season. However, much like those that were drafted years before him, some bad fortune cost him his entire rookie season in Los Angeles and it looks like once again another Clippers player has fallen victim to the franchise curse.

Blake Griffin joined The Sports Animal in Oklahoma City with Mark Rodgers to talk about how his rehab is going, how difficult it has been for him to miss his entire rookie season, and what it’s like to play in the shadow of the Lakers.

On how he is doing healthwise:

“I’m good. It’s going really well right now. I’m just doing rehab. I’ve been doing rehab for about two weeks now. I’m just trying to strengthen everything back and hopefully get back on the court sometime soon.”

On whether or not he is still rehabbing in Los Angeles:

“Yes, I’m in L.A. pretty much every day just doing rehab. I don’t travel right now just so I can stay and rehab and all of that. Pretty soon I’ll start traveling once my leg gets to the point where I can do some stuff on the road. So I’ll be with the team for the most part.”

On how he feels about the makeup of the Clippers:

“I do. I love the makeup on our team. We have a good mix of younger guys and older guys. We have struggled at times but for the most part, when we’re playing well and we’re playing together, we’ve beat some good teams and we’ve won some big games.”

On whether or not it is difficult to play in the shadow of the Lakers:

“A little bit but I wouldn’t say it’s tough. All the attention is on the Lakers. The Lakers have to bring it every night. We just come out and play basketball every night and we try to use that to our advantage. When you’re in that situation that the Lakers are in, everybody is always gunning for your spot. To us, we’re the underdog and we’re the one that is fighting. I think we like to be in that position.”

On whether he thinks he can come back strong from this injury:

“I definitely hope so. Right now, while I’m out, all I can do is watch and learn. That’s what I’m trying to do for the most part right now. I know what I need to work on. I’m gonna keep working on that all summer and all preseason and hopefully take the knowledge that I’ve gained over this year and put it to good use next year.”

On whether or not he is getting to shoot the ball yet during his rehab:

“Not right now but I will soon. I shot a lot of free throws and stuff over the year as I was rehabbing. Right now, I’m kinda laying low but hopefully that will come soon.”

On the potential of participating in the 2011 slam dunk contest:

“We’ll see. If they ask me to, I will probably accept.”

Listen to Blake Griffin on the Sports Animal in Oklahoma City here

Tags: Blake Griffin, Blake Griffin injury, Los Angeles Clippers, NBA