One of the greatest eras of Clippers basketball took place during the 2010’s when “Lob City” was in full effect.
Blake Griffin, who was the face of the Clippers during this era, told Front Office Sports that the organization hasn’t done anything to honor those past teams.
“I don’t think we’ve ever been asked to come back or do anything to honor that team,” Griffin said.
Between 1997-2011, the Clippers were perennial outcasts when it came down to making the playoffs. The team had only one playoff appearance during this 14-year period in 2006, when they were eliminated in the second round by the Phoenix Suns.
Griffin played for the team between 2009-2018 he and Chris Paul helped change the identity of the team entirely.
During the “Lob City” era, the Clippers made the playoffs six straight years and made it out of the first round three times, in 2012, 2014, and 2015.
“You look back and have a sense of pride because of what the Clippers were before, and it was often a punchline,” Griffin said. “I think that we feel pride in that we sort of got that franchise to a place where it was like, ‘Oh no, you’re expected to make the playoffs. You’re expected to go further.”
While the Clippers were starting to be taken seriously in the NBA spotlight, one of Griffin’s iconic moments for the organization happened during the 2010-2011 season.
Not only was Griffin the NBA’s Dunk Contest champion that season, he also became the fifth member of the organization, and first since they’ve been in Los Angeles, to win the Rookie of the Year award when he averaged 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game.
Aside from Griffin being disappointed in the organization not willing to recognize their past teams, Griffin spoke about the team’s controversial decision to release Paul in the middle of the year, during his final NBA season.
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“I was just kind of confused where the disconnect was like,” Griffin said. “This is who he’s been his whole career. He’s like a leader. He’s a talker. So why not use that to your advantage?”
“I wasn’t there, obviously so I don’t know everything that went on, but you know, to see it end like that, it’s definitely disappointing.”
