When big-name stars hit NBA free agency, teams will do whatever it takes to make them feel valued. The Clippers know first-hand what some tender love and care can do—their stakeout at DeAndre Jordan's house helped them retain the center after a big push from the Dallas Mavericks a couple years ago.
So after losing Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets, the Clippers knew they had to do whatever it took to make sure they didn't lose Blake Griffin. As part of their effort to make him feel special, Clippers employees shirts with Griffin's face on it, sitting next to some of the most iconic figures of modern times, including former President Barack Obama, Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, and more.
With all due respect to Griffin—the guy helped turn the damn Clippers around, it should be noted—placing him next to those figures is a little much. The reactions to the shirt were mixed on Twitter, with some people finding it hilarious and others thinking it was blasphemous to draw these comparisons.
Before you go around getting too upset about it, however, there's some added context behind the shirt. The original version of the shirt was given out to all the Clippers during the preseason, and did not include Griffin's face on it at the time. Since it was used as a motivational tool and source of inspiration for the team, it makes some sense that they would run it back again with a prominent addition when the moment was right.
So this might look weird from an outsider's perspective, but it's a doubling down of something the organization wanted Griffin and his Clippers teammates to focus on prior to this past season. It shows there's some follow through on a goal they wanted their players to aspire to, and even if it's pretty unrealistic to end up alongside men like those on the shirt, it can't hurt to continue to push him down that path.
And hey, it worked! Griffin will be back in Los Angeles after signing an enormous contract extension with the Clippers, where he'll get to be the true leading man now that Paul is in Houston. Here's hoping he takes his opportunity and runs with it.
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