The Los Angeles Clippers last-ditch effort to keep Blake Griffin included a truly ridiculous t-shirt.
After Blake Griffin’s free agent meeting with the Los Angeles Clippers, the employees of the franchise wore a shirt comparing him to John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Barack Obama, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali.
Clippers employees wore T-shirt after Blake Griffin's FA meeting likening him to MLK, Obama, Ali, JFK, Lincoln, Gandhi, MJ,Einstein,Mandela. pic.twitter.com/BZtXqhdrWr
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 1, 2017
The stunt came with rumors swirling about Griffin’s future in LA. Almost every team with money wanted a shot at the power forward, including the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat.
With Chris Paul opting to leave for the Houston Rockets earlier in the week, the Clippers were understandably anxious to do whatever they could to keep Griffin around. But the t-shirt? Really?
Griffin is an excellent basketball player no doubt, but surely not even he thinks he’s earned the right to be mentioned alongside the like of MLK, Gandhi and Einstein.
Still, the stunt appears to have worked. The meeting led Griffin to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. His contract was worth $173 million over five years. While he could have had a chance at a championship elsewhere, it’s hard to pass up that type of money.
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According to ESPN, Griffin said during the meeting that he wanted his “legacy to be a Clipper.” That is exactly what he earned by signing this contract. He has endeared himself to the fans of Los Angeles and this loyalty will only further his legacy.
Griffin was scheduled to meet with both the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets when free agency began. However, the Clippers wasted no time inking him to a new deal.
The organization must now think about how to deal with the loss of Paul. That could mean giving Griffin, who’s an excellent passer, more playmaking responsibilities. But he’s going to have to do something truly special to live up to his organization’s image of him.