StrengthAndHonor
09-23-2014, 09:26 PM
Pretty good read if you ask me.
Were you aware of Donald Sterling's reputation then?
When the draft lottery came out and the Clippers said they were gonna draft me, I went to Google to find out more about the Clippers, because I didn't know a lot. And I was like, "Okay, team owned by Donald Sterling." So then I typed in "Donald Sterling" in Google, and the first thing that pops up is "Donald Sterling racist." And I was like, "Whoa!" So obviously I explored that, read a whole bunch of articles, read the deposition at one of his court cases. Which was awesome, if you ever have time to read some of the depositions.
What was your impression of him?
The second time I met him... He throws a white party in Malibu every single year, so everyone has to wear white or you can't come. I get there, and this dude is wearing all black. The only person at this party. He throws a white party, he wears all black. And as soon as I get there, he comes to the front, we talk for a second, and he's like, "Come on, I want to introduce you to everyone." Grabs my hand and starts walking me through the party while we're holding hands, and just introduces me to everybody.
Is it true that he would bring women in to the locker room to watch players shower?
He would bring them in the locker room. Guys would be in there. The showers are kind of elsewhere. I don't think they would really go back there. But he would bring people in the locker room while we were just in towels. One year he came in and led a "hip hip hooray" chant and held my arm up in the air. Then he went to another teammate and did the same thing. Guys just started scattering as fast as possible. [laughs]
You guys had a team meeting that Saturday at which you spoke. What did you say?
A lot of guys spoke. Our coach spoke first. And basically what I said was... We were trying to come up with a plan. Some guys wanted to do something. Some guys didn't want to. I was one of the guys—and I don't know, I might catch flak for this—I was one of the guys who didn't want to do anything. I didn't want to give this one incident the power that it doesn't deserve. You know what I mean? And coincidentally, I had just, for the first time, watched the Jackie Robinson movie and watched how he dealt with it, even though obviously it's a movie. And I've actually read Hank Aaron books and a lot of things. I just felt like the best way to respond to something like that is just to go out and do what we do and not let it affect us. Because we're the ones that get affected, not anybody else. So that's why I took that position. But I completely understood why guys did want to do something. I was just kind of one of the ones that was like, "Let's just play basketball."
The Lakers had a disastrous off-season. Are the Clippers finally the alpha team in L.A.?
No, because for a lot of people, it's about history. And nothing we can ever do will ever take away from their history. They've had unbelievable success as a franchise. And I think in this current day, we're the better team. I do. But I mean, if you ask anybody that, they're gonna say that, you know—so that's not a real controversial statement.
As a fan, what did you think of LeBron returning to Cleveland?
I think it's great. The way he did it—the way he released that statement or article, whatever you want to call it—I think it shows a lot about him. And to be honest, it shows that he's a much bigger person than I think people gave him credit for. Because that's a tough thing to forgive. I mean, this man's family's lives were threatened. People constantly yelling at him. And not just Cleveland fans—from all over the world, everywhere he went, he got booed. The Cleveland fans burned this man's jersey in the street. He was Osama bin Laden. He got so much hate for choosing to go. And I get it. It was about the way he went about it. But that would have been tough, to just really be like, "Okay, you know what, I'm gonna come back home. I'm forgiving them. If you guys forgive me, I'm forgiving you." I think that takes a lot.
Who's the favorite next year?
I feel like you gotta say the Spurs. Just because, year after year, they never go away. They're like the model of success when it comes to building an NBA team. Tim Duncan is another perfect example of a guy who's over the years lost athleticism but stayed right there at the highest level, because of his work ethic and the way he goes about it. So you can never count them out.
What about the East? Who's the favorite there?
I think you gotta say the Cavs now. And then also I think Chicago's gonna be very, very good, especially with Derrick Rose back. I think, if he can stay healthy, I think Chicago's gonna be very good.
Charles Barkley seems to have an issue with you.
Yeah. I mean, I thought we were cool, and then all of a sudden... I think the whole former-player thing, where they come and they're now analysts, it's hard, because they don't want to give it up to anybody. Unless they really, really have to. Or you have a relationship with them. And I never really had a relationship with him. To this day, I don't think I've even met him.
He's been a constant critic of yours. He's called you out for flopping and suggested that you're overrated.
Yeah, it's been a long time. I'm not a big fan. [laughs] It's hard. As a kid, I was a huge fan. And then, after so many times of hearing somebody say something negative about you, then it's like, okay, this is like a thing—it's a personal thing. You know what I mean? It's like the saying "Don't meet your heroes." I haven't met him, but I don't really need to anymore. Which is unfortunate.
Do you still go to church?
I haven't in a while. But I still—I go with my brother and his wife. They have a little Bible-study thing out here. What's great about now is, growing up and being in Oklahoma, I think the idea of people who are religious is they try to shove their religion on you, and they think that that's the only way. They're very judgmental. And I try to kind of take the approach of "Whatever it is you do, cool." Like, "Don't judge me for doing what I want to do. I'm not gonna judge you for doing what you want to do." And I think that's what's cool about out here.
Were you surprised at the reaction when you said recently that you believed in creationism?
Yeah, I was a little bit—just because, like, if you said you believe in evolution, I'm not gonna be like, "You **** idiot!" [laughs] You know what I mean? I'm just gonna kind of be like, "That's whatever."
How does it feel to be widely criticized for a sincerely held view?
I think my previous four years of basketball, and being in this kind of thing, just prepared me for it, because I was like, "Oh, wow, people really cared that I said that." And then I just kind of let it go.
Do you believe in science?
I believe in science. I believe in all of that. I just... Honestly, when I'm at the beach and I'm looking at the ocean, I'm looking at the mountains and the sun is setting, I'm seeing people running up and down, laughing, having fun, I'm like, "This had to be created. This is created." And that's my personal thing.
So it's not an elaborate theory about, "Okay, man and dinosaurs were both here at the same time on this particular date...."
I might not have put thought into it, honestly. [laughs] I just kind of like, oh, yeah, creationism, that sounds good! But I guess I never really put so much thought into it, because I never thought that people would be pissed or really make me think twice about it. If you ask like 90 percent of the people in Oklahoma, they'd agree. And then when you get to coasts, it's very, very different. And a lot of people are very closed-minded when it comes to things like that, and don't—I don't want to say closed-minded, but it's their way or the highway. And it's unfortunate that people on both sides are very closed-minded about it. Because there are religious people who are very closed-minded to a lot of things that aren't necessarily right, in my opinion. So it's on both sides.
Were there religious teachings that you feel like you grew out of or you reconsidered when you came out to Los Angeles?
I hate when I see Christians, or whatever religion it is, protesting gays and having signs that say, like, "God hates gays." Because I've studied a lot of different religions; going to Christian school, we had a class where we would look at different religions, and we would kind of break them down and compare and contrast. And the Bible, take the Bible. So you believe in the Bible? God used women who were prostitutes, He used people that were stealers, people that were considered sinners, whatever the term may be, and He used them as His...to be examples of His teachings and things. Not make an example out of them, but actually use them. So, like, how can you say that God hates anybody?
Not to put gay men and women on the same level as—
No, no, no, no. I'm saying, how could He be mad at somebody for liking the same sex? I don't get it. And it also makes me mad, because as a religious person, it makes you look bad. I think it's unfortunate.
You got to meet Will Ferrell, who is one of your heroes, right?
Yeah, I did. That was awesome. I found that kind of funny, though, because we were shooting a Funny or Die thing at his house, and I pulled up to his house, and every word he was saying I was hanging on, waiting for an awesome punch line, you know? Like waiting for everything to be a joke. And he'd be like, "So how's your summer going? Is your brother still playing basketball?" I was just always waiting. Not that he wasn't funny. But I walked away thinking I probably looked like an idiot, just smiling at him, waiting for something awesome to happen.
http://www.gq.com/entertainment/sports/201410/blake-griffin?printable=true
Were you aware of Donald Sterling's reputation then?
When the draft lottery came out and the Clippers said they were gonna draft me, I went to Google to find out more about the Clippers, because I didn't know a lot. And I was like, "Okay, team owned by Donald Sterling." So then I typed in "Donald Sterling" in Google, and the first thing that pops up is "Donald Sterling racist." And I was like, "Whoa!" So obviously I explored that, read a whole bunch of articles, read the deposition at one of his court cases. Which was awesome, if you ever have time to read some of the depositions.
What was your impression of him?
The second time I met him... He throws a white party in Malibu every single year, so everyone has to wear white or you can't come. I get there, and this dude is wearing all black. The only person at this party. He throws a white party, he wears all black. And as soon as I get there, he comes to the front, we talk for a second, and he's like, "Come on, I want to introduce you to everyone." Grabs my hand and starts walking me through the party while we're holding hands, and just introduces me to everybody.
Is it true that he would bring women in to the locker room to watch players shower?
He would bring them in the locker room. Guys would be in there. The showers are kind of elsewhere. I don't think they would really go back there. But he would bring people in the locker room while we were just in towels. One year he came in and led a "hip hip hooray" chant and held my arm up in the air. Then he went to another teammate and did the same thing. Guys just started scattering as fast as possible. [laughs]
You guys had a team meeting that Saturday at which you spoke. What did you say?
A lot of guys spoke. Our coach spoke first. And basically what I said was... We were trying to come up with a plan. Some guys wanted to do something. Some guys didn't want to. I was one of the guys—and I don't know, I might catch flak for this—I was one of the guys who didn't want to do anything. I didn't want to give this one incident the power that it doesn't deserve. You know what I mean? And coincidentally, I had just, for the first time, watched the Jackie Robinson movie and watched how he dealt with it, even though obviously it's a movie. And I've actually read Hank Aaron books and a lot of things. I just felt like the best way to respond to something like that is just to go out and do what we do and not let it affect us. Because we're the ones that get affected, not anybody else. So that's why I took that position. But I completely understood why guys did want to do something. I was just kind of one of the ones that was like, "Let's just play basketball."
The Lakers had a disastrous off-season. Are the Clippers finally the alpha team in L.A.?
No, because for a lot of people, it's about history. And nothing we can ever do will ever take away from their history. They've had unbelievable success as a franchise. And I think in this current day, we're the better team. I do. But I mean, if you ask anybody that, they're gonna say that, you know—so that's not a real controversial statement.
As a fan, what did you think of LeBron returning to Cleveland?
I think it's great. The way he did it—the way he released that statement or article, whatever you want to call it—I think it shows a lot about him. And to be honest, it shows that he's a much bigger person than I think people gave him credit for. Because that's a tough thing to forgive. I mean, this man's family's lives were threatened. People constantly yelling at him. And not just Cleveland fans—from all over the world, everywhere he went, he got booed. The Cleveland fans burned this man's jersey in the street. He was Osama bin Laden. He got so much hate for choosing to go. And I get it. It was about the way he went about it. But that would have been tough, to just really be like, "Okay, you know what, I'm gonna come back home. I'm forgiving them. If you guys forgive me, I'm forgiving you." I think that takes a lot.
Who's the favorite next year?
I feel like you gotta say the Spurs. Just because, year after year, they never go away. They're like the model of success when it comes to building an NBA team. Tim Duncan is another perfect example of a guy who's over the years lost athleticism but stayed right there at the highest level, because of his work ethic and the way he goes about it. So you can never count them out.
What about the East? Who's the favorite there?
I think you gotta say the Cavs now. And then also I think Chicago's gonna be very, very good, especially with Derrick Rose back. I think, if he can stay healthy, I think Chicago's gonna be very good.
Charles Barkley seems to have an issue with you.
Yeah. I mean, I thought we were cool, and then all of a sudden... I think the whole former-player thing, where they come and they're now analysts, it's hard, because they don't want to give it up to anybody. Unless they really, really have to. Or you have a relationship with them. And I never really had a relationship with him. To this day, I don't think I've even met him.
He's been a constant critic of yours. He's called you out for flopping and suggested that you're overrated.
Yeah, it's been a long time. I'm not a big fan. [laughs] It's hard. As a kid, I was a huge fan. And then, after so many times of hearing somebody say something negative about you, then it's like, okay, this is like a thing—it's a personal thing. You know what I mean? It's like the saying "Don't meet your heroes." I haven't met him, but I don't really need to anymore. Which is unfortunate.
Do you still go to church?
I haven't in a while. But I still—I go with my brother and his wife. They have a little Bible-study thing out here. What's great about now is, growing up and being in Oklahoma, I think the idea of people who are religious is they try to shove their religion on you, and they think that that's the only way. They're very judgmental. And I try to kind of take the approach of "Whatever it is you do, cool." Like, "Don't judge me for doing what I want to do. I'm not gonna judge you for doing what you want to do." And I think that's what's cool about out here.
Were you surprised at the reaction when you said recently that you believed in creationism?
Yeah, I was a little bit—just because, like, if you said you believe in evolution, I'm not gonna be like, "You **** idiot!" [laughs] You know what I mean? I'm just gonna kind of be like, "That's whatever."
How does it feel to be widely criticized for a sincerely held view?
I think my previous four years of basketball, and being in this kind of thing, just prepared me for it, because I was like, "Oh, wow, people really cared that I said that." And then I just kind of let it go.
Do you believe in science?
I believe in science. I believe in all of that. I just... Honestly, when I'm at the beach and I'm looking at the ocean, I'm looking at the mountains and the sun is setting, I'm seeing people running up and down, laughing, having fun, I'm like, "This had to be created. This is created." And that's my personal thing.
So it's not an elaborate theory about, "Okay, man and dinosaurs were both here at the same time on this particular date...."
I might not have put thought into it, honestly. [laughs] I just kind of like, oh, yeah, creationism, that sounds good! But I guess I never really put so much thought into it, because I never thought that people would be pissed or really make me think twice about it. If you ask like 90 percent of the people in Oklahoma, they'd agree. And then when you get to coasts, it's very, very different. And a lot of people are very closed-minded when it comes to things like that, and don't—I don't want to say closed-minded, but it's their way or the highway. And it's unfortunate that people on both sides are very closed-minded about it. Because there are religious people who are very closed-minded to a lot of things that aren't necessarily right, in my opinion. So it's on both sides.
Were there religious teachings that you feel like you grew out of or you reconsidered when you came out to Los Angeles?
I hate when I see Christians, or whatever religion it is, protesting gays and having signs that say, like, "God hates gays." Because I've studied a lot of different religions; going to Christian school, we had a class where we would look at different religions, and we would kind of break them down and compare and contrast. And the Bible, take the Bible. So you believe in the Bible? God used women who were prostitutes, He used people that were stealers, people that were considered sinners, whatever the term may be, and He used them as His...to be examples of His teachings and things. Not make an example out of them, but actually use them. So, like, how can you say that God hates anybody?
Not to put gay men and women on the same level as—
No, no, no, no. I'm saying, how could He be mad at somebody for liking the same sex? I don't get it. And it also makes me mad, because as a religious person, it makes you look bad. I think it's unfortunate.
You got to meet Will Ferrell, who is one of your heroes, right?
Yeah, I did. That was awesome. I found that kind of funny, though, because we were shooting a Funny or Die thing at his house, and I pulled up to his house, and every word he was saying I was hanging on, waiting for an awesome punch line, you know? Like waiting for everything to be a joke. And he'd be like, "So how's your summer going? Is your brother still playing basketball?" I was just always waiting. Not that he wasn't funny. But I walked away thinking I probably looked like an idiot, just smiling at him, waiting for something awesome to happen.
http://www.gq.com/entertainment/sports/201410/blake-griffin?printable=true