…can you recall a time, not so terribly long ago, when Blake Griffin (formerly of the Los Angeles Clippers, currently of the Detroit Pistons) was beloved?
Do you remember how we all used to watch his games in eager anticipation of who he’d dunk on next? No? Well, it was almost (I must emphasize almost) like the zenith of the Vince Carter show (re: Vinsanity), back when Vince’d present us all with a new stupefying dunk at least once in every game. But if you can’t even remember apogee Griffin you certainly won’t remember Vince at his Half-Man, Half-Amazingest. *sigh*
Well, we’ll save Vince for another day. Presently, we’re talking about Blake and what he did to Kendrick Perkins on January 30, 2012…
It was early in the third quarter. Griffin rolled towards the basket and caught a pass from Chris Paul. As Griffin hurled himself, bodily, at the rim, Kendrick Perkins thought it would be a good idea to try and stop him from scoring. Griffin responded by elevating still higher, leaning over Perkins, and then… well, that’s where things get confusing. It looks kind of like a dunk on, but Griffin’s hand barely grazes the rim; he just kind of slings the ball through. I realized I’d seen him do something similar once before when a man named Timofey Mozgov stepped between Griffin and the rim. And that’s when it occurred to me that Griffin didn’t dunk on Kendrick any more than he dunked on Mosgov.
He Blaked on him. He Blaked all over him.
And when I observed the dejected look on Kendrick’s face as he slouched over and grimaced up at the replay…
…I realized that being Blaked on is one of the worst things that can happen to anyone on a basketball court.
He’s not exctly Dwight Howard, but for whatever reason, Blake Griffin has fallen into the category of those unfortunate NBAers who are no longer held in high esteem. A lot of fans don’t like him anymore. Me? I’m a Hawks fan. If he wanted to come to Atlanta and wear the volt green I’d be overjoyed. Vince and Blake on the same squad? I’m not too much of a snob to enjoy a good novelty act.
Cheers.
