Clippers’ Chris Paul Claims Relationship With Blake Griffin Is ‘ Better Now Than Ever’
(Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Clippers came into the 2016-17 NBA season off one of the most disappointing ends to a playoff run the previous season. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin went down with injuries in the first-round of the NBA playoffs against the Portland Trail Blazers and then the team fell apart.
After falling to the Blazers, the rumors started to swirl about Doc Rivers and company finally ready to break-up the team. Those major changes and rumors about potential trades involving Griffin or Paul never came to fruition and with the way they’ve played in the first quarter of this season many can see why they decided against making a move.
The Clippers currently own the best record in the NBA at 14-2. Los Angeles is rolling and looking like a legitimate title contender this season with the team’s best players on the same page, according to Paul via USA Today’s Sam Amick:
“Oh, no question (it’s) better now than ever,†Paul told me on Friday. “Like I’m saying, we both have matured so much, and our communication is amazing right now, so sometimes it takes time. That’s what (happened) with me and BG, and there’s nothing like it right now. We are having some of the most fun that we’ve had in our time together.â€
With the best record in the NBA and both Paul and Griffin on the same page, the Clippers could be a scary team in the Western Conference this season. Paul and company have been a threat in the West ever since he arrived in 2011, but they have never been able to come through in the playoffs.
This season may be make-or-break for the Clippers as they try to top the star-studded Golden State Warriors and hold off the always dangerous San Antonio Spurs. If the Clippers don’t at least make it to the Western Conference Finals or possibly the NBA Finals, drastic changes could be on the horizon with Griffin and Paul hitting free agency this summer.
