Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin put together arguably the best season of his career in Motown in 2018-19, appearing in 75 games and helping the Pistons back to an albeit brief playoff appearance.
But the first portion of his career was spent with the Los Angeles Clippers, with whom he gained worldwide fame. Prior to the 2017-18 NBA Season, he signed what he thought was a lifetime deal to remain with the Clippers, only to be dealt to the Pistons in January of 2018.
During an interview with Alex Wong of Yahoo Sports, Griffin revealed some details behind the trade, saying it completely took him by surprise and that he wasn’t privy to the details until it already went through.
“I didn’t want the [free agency] pitch anymore than anybody else did. To me it wasn’t about the fake jersey retirement, that’s not when I was like, ‘oh yeah, I’m signing back here.’ It was the best decision at the time for me. At the end of the day, the only thing that I wish happened differently was I wish they had given me the same respect like some teams give to guys when they say, ‘hey, we’re gonna go in a different direction and we want to make this work for everybody.’ I went in and asked somebody in the front office on the day of. It was tip-toed around. [They said] you’ll be the first call, that didn’t happen. I completely understand if a team wants to go in a different direction. I just wish I had been privy to the information before everybody else was.”
