Blake Griffin on Donald Sterling In One Word: Weird

In his debut post for The Players’ Tribune, a website launched by the recently retired Derek Jeter, Clippers forward Blake Griffin published firsthand account of his experiences with former team owner Donald Sterling.

Although he’s listed on the site as a senior editor, it’s worth nothing that Griffin’s contribution to the writing process—whether he produced the piece himself or worked in conjunction with another writer—is not entirely clear.

That being said, the behind-the-scenes account of Sterling’s ownership provided by Griffin is quite interesting.

Sterling was forced out as owner after audio tapes in which he made a number of unforgivably racist comments were leaked to the media. He fought the sale tooth and nail, but ultimately lost. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took control of the team in August, just four months after TMZ published the recordings.

[Click here to read “The Boss” in its entirety]

The overall tone of the piece actually made me think of one of the many insults Shaquille O’Neal has hurled at former Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant over the years. It is by no means the most creative or even the meanest dis, but there’s something poignant in its simplicity.

When asked about Kobe’s character back in 2003, Shaq said,”My personal opinion is, how, if you never hung out with somebody, do you know them so well? I never hung out with that dude because the dude is a weirdo. I knew that the whole time. He’s a weirdo.”

Griffin goes into more detail on Sterling, but that is really the overarching point he makes about his former boss. Not only did he and his teammates not like Sterling, whenever possible, they tried not to even think of him at all. Not just because he’s a racist, but because he’s a weirdo.

Here are my takeaways from “The Boss:”

Donald Sterling is a hand holder

Like an aggressive hand holder. After Griffin was drafted, Sterling invited him to a party in Malibu in which he was dragged around by the hand for an uncomfortably long time, with Sterling introducing him to every last person in attendance. According to Griffin, he tried to pull away more than once, but to no avail.

“Donald Sterling had me by the hand. You know that thing elderly women do where they grab the top of your hand with just their fingers and lead you around? That’s what he was doing. … I was hoping to escape down the stairs, find one of my teammates and blend in with the rest of the crowd. I tried to pull my hand away. Nope. … That was not the end of it. At the bottom of the stairs, Donald grabbed my hand again. I tried to do the old shake-and-release move. No dice. He kept holding on.”

Boy that sounds awkward. It’s clear that Griffin was really uncomfortable holding Sterling’s hand based on the level of detail he remembers and recounts. His experience at this particular party constituted about 50 percent of the entire piece.

Donald Sterling cares a lot about first impressions. 

At that profoundly awkward sounding party, Sterling did his best to win over Griffin. Dragging Griffin around his palatial Malibu mansion by the hand, Sterling twice asked rhetorically, “Isn’t this fabulous?” The home may have been fabulous, but Griffin just felt uncomfortable about the beautiful blonde models who were hired by his boss to stand at his side through the entire event.

Said Griffin, I looked at one of the girls, as if to say, “Uhhh, you don’t have to do this.” She looked back: “Uhhh, yes I do.”

Donald Sterling loved to show off “his” superstars, but struggled to communicate with them on any level

While being dragged around that fateful party, it didn’t take Griffin long to realize Sterling had absolutely nothing to say to him. His (now former) boss struggled with even basic smalltalk while introducing him to everyone at the party and would just move on to the next introduction the moment conversation stalled.

Said Griffin, “I didn’t see Sterling for a long time after that White Party. The reality is that he barely interacted with the players, and when he did, he’d just talk at you.” 

Blake Griffin has known Donald Sterling was a racist since before he was drafted 

When he found out he was being drafted by the Clippers, Griffin Googled his soon to be new boss and “Donald Sterling is a racist” was the first hit. Sterling has a long history of racist behavior and discriminatory housing practices that were largely ignored by the NBA.

Griffin was stunned to learn of Sterling’s history, but some of the articles were so old that it was clear to him that everybody already knew about the accusations and nobody really cared. So as a player he never even considered bringing up Sterling’s past—he just did what the rest of us did, tried to put it out of our minds.

Which is why when the tapes were released in April, Griffin found the content “shocking, but not surprising.”

Despite what Donald Sterling seems to believe, nobody on the team liked him

After the recordings were leaked, Griffin and his teammates were endlessly frustrated by suggestions they should boycott the playoffs. They were disgusted by what they heard, but they were never playing for Sterling to begin with.

During a very ill-advised interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Sterling stated plainly and seriously, “Ask the players. My players love me!” Watching from the locker room, Griffin and teammate Chris Paul looked at each other and tried not to laugh. It was that absurd.

Yet, says Griffin, “The first question I got asked at my locker the next day by a reporter was, ‘Blake, do you love Donald Sterling?’” They didn’t play for Sterling and it was ridiculous to expect them to not play because of him, particularly in the postseason.

Everybody loves new owner Steve Ballmer

Steve Ballmer has been painted as an overenthusiastic fanboy at times by the media, but Griffin resents their attempts to turn him into a joke. The players think he’s “awesome” and Griffin says the entire vibe of the franchise has changed. Winning at all cost is now the priority.

“Donald Sterling didn’t care if we won — at least if it meant he had to spend money,” says Griffin. “It wasn’t just about spending money on players. For years, our training staff wanted to buy this sophisticated computer software that would let them scan our bodies and keep track of our progress throughout the season. Sterling wouldn’t sign off on it.”

He continues, “When I walked into the training facility for the first time this summer, the entire vibe was different. People were smiling. From the security people to the game operations staff to the office staff, everybody seemed happy to be there. For the first time ever, they were on permanent contracts. Under Sterling, all the staff were on temporary contracts. Top to bottom, everybody just appreciates being appreciated now.”

Everybody loves new owner Steve Ballmer

Steve Ballmer has been painted as an overenthusiastic fanboy at times by the media, but Griffin resents their attempts to turn him into a joke. The players think he’s “awesome” and Griffin says the entire vibe of the franchise has changed. Winning at all cost is now the priority.

“Donald Sterling didn’t care if we won — at least if it meant he had to spend money,” says Griffin. “It wasn’t just about spending money on players. For years, our training staff wanted to buy this sophisticated computer software that would let them scan our bodies and keep track of our progress throughout the season. Sterling wouldn’t sign off on it.”

He continues, “When I walked into the training facility for the first time this summer, the entire vibe was different. People were smiling. From the security people to the game operations staff to the office staff, everybody seemed happy to be there. For the first time ever, they were on permanent contracts. Under Sterling, all the staff were on temporary contracts. Top to bottom, everybody just appreciates being appreciated now.”

Everything is now officially awesome in Clipper Nation

And it’s because Donald Sterling is gone.

If Ballmer is the cool dad that gives you candy, Griffin says, then Sterling is the weird uncle. Nobody ever misses the weird uncle.