Detroit Pistons star forward Blake Griffin is making his return trip to Los Angeles Saturday — a city that he called home for seven-plus seasons as a member of the Clippers.
To say that there’s hard feelings after Griffin was traded from the Clippers last season would be an understatement.
While the All-Star has handled everything professionally, the idea of Los Angeles moving on from him months after signing the forward to an extension can’t sit well with Griffin.
That came out in droves prior to Saturday’s game at the Staples Center. After watching Griffin in pre-game warmups, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer attempted to connect with his former player. Griffin was having none of it.
Blake wanted no part of Steve Ballmer's handshake pic.twitter.com/zK3dHbQvNg
— The Ringer (@ringer) January 12, 2019
Dude literally ran away from Ballmer. There’s no reading between the lines here. Los Angeles’ owner seemingly thinks there’s still a relationship between himself and Griffin. Blake pretty much snuffed that out immediately.
There’s one positive coming out of this. Griffin was much more open to connecting with Clippers fans. They rooted for him over the long haul and that’s not lost on the All-Star.
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1084164897150140416
We’re highly intrigued to see how everything takes shape during the game. But we can expect a warm welcome from Clippers fans. That’s for sure.