DeAndre Jordan has high praise for Blake Griffin's work ethic

In the 14-year span from 1979 to 1993, we saw four no. 1s who would win multiple titles as their team’s centerpiece: Magic Johnson (1979), Hakeem Olajuwon (1984), David Robinson (1987), and Shaquille O’Neal (1992). Several others would become Hall of Famers, including James Worthy (1982), Patrick Ewing (1985), and Chris Webber (1993). But the past 25 years have been strewn with disappointments, from Kwame Brown (2001) to Greg Oden (2007) to Anthony Bennett (2013) to Markelle Fultz (2017). Some no. 1s found sustained stardom—Griffin, Derrick Rose (2008), John Wall (2010)—but hit a ceiling or were sapped by injuries. Even Deandre Ayton (2018), who made the 2021 Finals as the Phoenix Suns’ third-best player, now looks like another cautionary tale. -via The Ringer / May 29, 2024

ClutchPoints: “I wouldn’t turn that down, but in my mind, I don’t know that I necessarily deserve it.” Blake Griffin was asked if the Clippers should retire his jersey, what do you think? 🤔 (via @RunItBackFDTV) pic.twitter.com/XIP5J86wSU -via Twitter @ClutchPointsApp / May 17, 2024

Now to see if Griffin and the Clippers eventually reach common ground on a reconciliation to the point where his No. 32 will be retired by the franchise. I think it will happen someday and frankly it has to happen someday because of what Griffin meant to this franchise and its fan base. No one was more important than Griffin, in the Lob City days, in helping the Clippers shed their local afterthought status. However … They’re not there yet. My sense is that some fence-mending is still needed. You just don’t get over a break-up like that. -via marcstein.substack.com / April 23, 2024

DeAndre Jordan: “All leaders aren’t liked. That’s the thing about being a leader, people are going to be pissed at you sometimes because of how you’re handling everything. But if it’s for the betterment of the team, it’s kind of like, ‘I’m willing to make that sacrifice.’ -via YouTube / June 29, 2024

DeAndre Jordan on Chris Paul: “Chris expected a lot out of all of us, and I think people kind of get rubbed the wrong way with that. When you’re young, you’re kind of like, ‘Damn, man, what the [expletive]?’ As you get older, you start to understand the game, you start to understand that guys get to a certain point and they want to win a championship. They see these opportunities that they had when they were younger, and they kind of slip away. You don’t want those to slip away in the time where you have a great team around you. So it’s kind of like, ‘I’m not going to do what I did last time and maybe be quiet or let this [expletive] slide.'” -via YouTube / June 29, 2024

DeAndre Jordan: “We’re in Houston at my house. My brother’s there, a couple of my buddies, and I get a call from Doc. And I’m like, oh [__]. My brother Cory’s like, don’t answer that. I’m like, no, it’s my dog, I got to answer the phone. So I talked to Doc for a second, and we’re just chatting it up. He’s like, hey man, you know, it took me a while. I’m happy for you. I just think that we got some unfinished business here.” -via YouTube / June 27, 2024