The Players' Tribune: DJ's first comments since re-signing; Blake details The Standoff
Thank you 'The Players' Tribune' for sharing Blake Griffin's gift for comedic writing.
Griffin, along with Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, wrote for 'The Tribune' on their exploits during Jordan's free-agency saga, where he backed off a verbal commitment to the Mavericks and instead re-signed with the Clippers.
As told by Jordan, in his first comments since the move: "As everyone knows, I struggled with it. It was nine or ten days of intense pressure. Every night I would have a different scenario in my head, of the city and team where I thought I would fit best. I had several meetings with teams and even more conversations with my family and friends. I kept thinking about what it really meant to be 'home' and I would go back and forth."
On his alleged beef with point guard Chris Paul: "I love Chris, man. Chris is a big brother to me. When you play sports, you're competitive -- especially when you play them at as high a level as we have these last few years. And of course, yeah, we all bump heads during the course of the game. But we know that whatever criticisms or arguments we have on the floor, they're about one thing: winning."
Watch @deandrejordan6 speak for the 1st time about his decision to return to the @LAClippers: http://t.co/n0puZ2OPDI pic.twitter.com/uuhbQERUmR
— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) July 21, 2015
"I thought I needed change ... I thought I wanted change.'
Jordan goes into more detail during his interview on the Tribune's YouTube page.
Turning to Griffin, the power forward penned a hilarious take on how Paul Pierce, Doc Rivers, Steve Ballmer, Paul, and JJ Redick banned together to get Jordan to stay in Los Angeles. From emojis to 'Shallow Hal' to detailing delicious Raising Cain's (look it up) menu to running through LAX 'like an insane person', Griffin had us hanging ... and laughing ... on every word.
The Standoff: @blakegriffin32 on what really went down in @deandrejordan6's house. http://t.co/OoGcfZfxcs pic.twitter.com/sgxvU6LBuh
— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) July 21, 2015
By Wednesday morning, when the emojis started flying everywhere, the headlines were: CLIPPERS DESCEND ON HOUSTON. DEANDRE LOCKED IN HOME. CHRIS PAUL ABSENT FROM MEETING. MARK CUBAN DRIVING AROUND HOUSTON SEARCHING FOR DEANDRE.
All of it was wrong. When people were tweeting "Sources: Clippers to meet with DeAndre in the next 3 hours," we were already back at DeAndre's house and I was nodding off watching a Clippers Summer League game on the couch. When I woke up an hour later with drool on the pillow, my phone was a bloodbath of notifications. People were literally tweeting things like, "DeAndre is a grown-ass man! Stop holding him hostage!" and "You should all be arrested for this! I'm calling the cops!"
Jordan, Pierce, Austin Rivers, Josh Smith and more will be present at Tuesday's free-agent press conference at Staples Center. Watch it LIVE on FOXSportsWest.com at noon.
