Getty Blake Griffin finds a new home.
It is no secret that the Brooklyn Nets had one of the most turmoil-filled locker rooms in the NBA last season. Kyrie Irving was out for most of the year because he refused to get the COVID-19 vaccination, which was required to play home games at Barclays Center. That played into the mid-season blockbuster trade that sent ex-Nets star James Harden to the 76ers in exchange for Ben Simmons.
Simmons was initially supposed to suit up last season but never did because of a back injury he suffered during his ramp-up period. That all culminated with Kevin Durant making his trade request just before the NBA free agency period.
Though most players have chosen to remain silent about the drama in Brooklyn, at least one former player is speaking out. Ex-Nets forward Blake Griffin officially became a member of the Boston Celtics on October 3. During his first media session, the All-Star said the “amount of maturity” in the Celtics locker room presents a “different atmosphere” than he has been used to. An apparent shot at his former team.
“I’ve talked to pretty much everybody. I was talking to some guys (Sunday). … I’m actually very — not surprised, but the amount of maturity and welcomeness (that the Celtics’ players showed) … it’s a different atmosphere than I was sort of used to, in a good way,” Griffin said during his first Celtics media session on October 3 via NBC Sports Boston.
“They were very welcoming: everybody, one through 15. Practice today was focused, very encouraging, and helpful. I think you kind of take that for granted because it’s not always the case everywhere you go.”
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Insider: Nash Benched Griffin Because of Poor Shooting
Nash’s underutilization of the All-Star forward was a bit of a head-scratcher last season for many Nets fans. Even when the team was decimated by injuries, Nash could not make way for Griffin in Brooklyn’s rotation. Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News says one of the reasons could be that Nash “doesn’t like” Griffin’s game.
“There’s something about Blake Griffin that Steve Nash doesn’t like. I’ll just say that. Maybe not like, but doesn’t feel is deserving of minutes on a basketball floor. I mean, you had Blake Griffin basically just wasting away most of the second half of the season because he couldn’t hit a shot.
That’s what it was, he missed, I don’t remember, it must have twenty or twenty-plus straight open threes to the point where people were just daring him to shoot,” Winfield said on “The Athletic NBA Show” in September.
“He did everything else pretty well, we’re talking about hustled, grabbing rebounds, making the right passes, he did those things well, but for Steve, it boiled down to, he just couldn’t hit an open shot, and that was a liability, so that was it.
“I think that’s probably why they didn’t sign him because why sign him if you aren’t going to play him?”
Griffin Still Good Enough To Make an Impact
Per “Basketball-Reference”, Griffin played a career-low 17.1 minutes per game during the 2021-22 season. It is the first time in his career that he has averaged less than 20 minutes per game in a season. Then in the postseason, Griffin only played 25 minutes in total for the Nets in their first-round playoff elimination against the Celtics.
Griffin may not be the explosive, high-flying, athlete he was when he was drafted first overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2009, but he still has enough athleticism and defensive intensity to make an impact.
With injuries to key players such as Robert Williams III and Danilo Gallinari, there should be an opportunity for him to earn more minutes in Celtics’ interim head coach, Joe Mazzulla’s offense.