Blake Griffin is coming off a rookie season in which he garnered Rookie of the Year honors and a Slam Dunk contest victory after captivating NBA fans everywhere with one highlight after another. Now, the former OU standout has everyone wondering one thing.
The offseason has been a blur for Blake, but he took some time during his kids camp for a Q&A with the Oklahoman.
What's next?
Unfortunately, no one knows when we'll get the answer to that question. But Griffin is staying busy this summer, preparing to keep us on the edge of our seats. In an interview with The Oklahoman, Griffin talks about the NBA lockout, his summer workouts and his favorite moment from last season.
Q: How has this offseason been different from last year?
A: All of last year I was working out at our facility. I kind of got into a routine and felt like I got a lot of good work in. This summer, I've had to switch it up, but it's been good. I've gotten a variety of different workouts and been able to go against different guys.
Q: Has it been a struggle to find a good place to workout?
A: Nah, I mean it's never really a struggle to find a place to workout. There's always a place. There's always guys. It's just about going and doing it. There's a lot of good 5-on-5 games in L.A., so I've been doing that a lot.
Who are some of the guys you're working out with this summer and where?
A: Actually I've worked out with KD, J.R. Smith, Joakim Noah, my brother a little bit. There's all kind of guys that come in and out, play pickup or get a quick workout in. For the most part I've been (working out) in different parts of L.A.
Q: What is your relationship with Kevin Durant like?
A: I've known him for awhile, playing against him in AAU in high school. We're not real close, but I've gotten to know him better over the past year or so. He's a good guy. He works hard, and it's always good to workout with people like that.
Q: What's one thing you learned from your rookie season that you want to take into next season?
A: Making sure you get off on the right foot. Last year, we started off pretty poorly. We were 1-12 at one point. That was tough. You got to come out of the gate ready to play and that starts, really, even before training camp by making the sure the team is together and everybody is healthy and doing what they're supposed to do.
Q: You know that one win in that stretch was against the Thunder. Remember that? You beat them pretty good.
A: Yeah, that was one of those games where everything just kind of clicked, and we played well. We're capable of doing that more often than not. The more we're together as a team and are on the same page going into training camp and dedicate ourselves to working hard in training camp the better off we'll be.
Q: What was your proudest moment last season?
A: We had a stretch of games in January where I think we won like nine straight home games. We were really having a lot of fun as a team, and honestly that was by far the best moment of the season. That's what it's about. Winning cures a lot of things, and it sure did for us. Unfortunately we weren't able to keep that going.
Q: Did your dominance last year make you feel unstoppable, and does that give you that much more confidence going forward?
A: Yeah, the more you play the more confident you become. Having a good game here and there builds your confidence. So throughout the season, you become more confident, not only because of what you've done but also because of experience. So I just want to use that next year and build off it.
Q: Was there a moment last year when you realized that you can dominate in this league?
A: It's never really a matter of me personally dominating, especially from a scoring standpoint. My thing is, for our team, I need to try to control the game and do a lot of other things, whether it's rebounding, passing out of the double team, running the floor, or finishing. It's all those things. It's not that I always want the ball and I always got to be that guy that's got to score. I try to be a facilitator at the same time.
Q: What are you going to do with yourself if this lockout continues to drag out?
A: I'm still going to be working out. You got to stay ready. But at the same time you got to pace yourself and make sure you're not doing too much. But staying ready and staying in shape is important, and when the time comes I can hit the ground running.
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