Category — Blake Griffin

Billy Hunter is making the NBA players executive committee look like buffoons, particularly Mo Evans. Evans, once a teammate with Derek Fisher with the Lakers, has been the most vocal committee member about forcing Fisher out as president despite the union paying almost $5 million to Hunter’s family for union-related “work.” Please.
The committee went as far as dropping the name of Chris Paul, who also is a member of the committee and voted for Fisher’s ouster, as a possible successor to Fisher. Wonder where that came from?
Seriously, the stench is becoming unbearable.
Rick Fox was a guest on the “Petros & Money” show this afternoon on Fox Radio in L.A. Fox said the wackiness is just beginning. And though he didn’t elaborate, it’s a good guess more skeletons will be falling out of Hunter’s closet.
Bloomberg

A week ago, I listened to an outrageous sports-talk radio host rage about the greed of Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen for barking about playing in the Olympics for free. Worst, the radio host started comparing playing in the Olympics as an honor of serving your country just like fighting in a war. Stupid doesn’t begin to describe the latter. There isn’t ANYTHING that compares to war.
Mark Cuban has vehemently complained about this issue before. He’s right. And if it were up to Cuban, NBA players wouldn’t even be in the games. We find nothing wrong with that either.
Corporate America, the networks, Nike and many others rake in millions for serving their country (cough, cough), but the NBA players are expected to give away their services for free?
ESPN Dallas

Laker fans wonder why the rest of the world hates their guts? A flop by James Harden? Seriously, some of you idiots need to get out more.
After the moron move by World Metta Peace, NBA fans were treated to an outstanding game between the Lakers and Thunder. Harden’s lost (and we sincerely hope his injury doesn’t force him to miss any playing time in the playoffs) clearly hurt the Thunder, but lost in that was the play of Jordan Hill, who came off the bench and spelled Andrew Bynum for 14 points and 15 boards. Without him, the Lakers lose big.
Mike Brown claimed he had a “gut” feeling Hill would play well. We’ll give him that much, but why did it take the beer-belly Brown so long to go with his “gut?”
Also, props to the Thunder, particularly Serge Ibaka, for at least coming to Harden’s defense. The Clip Joint could take a page out of their playbook.
ESPN LA

How big is this? For starters, the Thunder can sweep the season series, but more importantly, they can keep pace with the Spurs for the top seed in the West.
For the Lakers, it’s a bigger deal. A loss and they could be looking up at the Clip Joint, which hosts the Hornets Sunday night. The Grizzlies, who have won 4 straight, also are lurking only a game back. They’re off Sunday, but host the Cavs on Monday night.
If the Lakers fall to the No. 5 spot and get the Grizzlies in the 1st round, we’re betting the farm Memphis prevails. The Clippers in the No. 4 spot is the ideal situation for Laker fans because Lob City isn’t as tough a customer as the Grizzlies.

Spurs 121, Lakers 97.
Kobe Bryant returned, but it made little difference as San Antonio pounded the Lakers for the 2nd time in 3 meetings.
The Clip Joint, which we can only assume is celebrating 420 day, is excited with the result. The loss left the Lakers, who visit the Thunder in a Sunday showdown, just 1/2 game ahead of the Clippers for the No. 3 spot.
ESPN LA

Suns 93, Clippers 90.
Like the chippy Bulls-Heat contest that preceeded it on TNT, the Clippers-Suns game also was a hotly-contest affair. It resulted in Blake Griffin getting a semi clothesline from Robin Lopez, who was ejected, but as Charles Barkley pointed out, no 1 on the Clippers retaliated. What’s up with that?
Regardless, the Clippers remain a game back of the Lakers, who face the Spurs again tonight in San Antonio. Both clubs, who are currently 3rd and 4th in the Western Conference, are trying to avoid a date with the Grizzlies in the 1st round. That could be major trouble for either of them, particularly the Clippers.
NBA.com

The Clippers are in the playoffs for the 1st time in six years. They put on a show Monday night in an impressive win over the Thunder, but Coach Vinny Del Negro said his boys “have no idea” what awaits them in the postseason. Despite all the homering Clipper analyst Michael Smith spouts, particularly last night, saying, among other nonsense, how no club wants to face the Clip Joint in the postseason, they probably hope the Grizzlies don’t fall to the No. 6 spot. That’s a tough bunch to bear.
Daily News

A tweet today from TeamKB24 to Chris Paul, who apparently didn’t see any Clipper hats after a trip to some L.A.-area mall: “When Clippers win a ring maybe you’ll see those hats in a city owned by 16x champs.”

With yesterday’s committment by Shabazz Muhammad and the recent one by Kyle Anderson, UCLA and its fans have high hopes of returning to the high life in college basketball. As much as we’d like to share in their enthusiasm, and we do to a certain extent, we’re still bummed Ben Howland is the Bruins coach. But blame Dan Guerrero for that 1 since both should have been shown the door after this past season’s fiasco and the circus-like atmosphere surrounding the program.
The good news, though, is the pressure is on Howland to produce next season despite the pass he has received from the L.A. media. Obviously, if he doesn’t, you can bet the farm he’s history and maybe someone at UCLA will have the balls to boot Guerrero, too. Howland, who apparently went to the same school for offensive strategy as Mike Brown, has even promised to open up the offense. We’ll believe it when we see it. But for the players sake, let’s hope the Bruins are as fun to watch as the talent they have stockpiled. Maybe even Howland can’t screw that up.
College Basketball Talk
Jackie Robinson Day: Major League Baseball will celebrate the icon on Sunday.
MLB.com
The day after: Fans (writers and broadcasters, too) are still stunned by the way the Lakers hammered the Spurs Wednesday night without Kobe.
ESPN LA
Money in the bank: With a big assist from David Stern, the Clippers deal for Chris Paul is paying off as well as any investment. Ask the Thunder.
NBA.com
Will the NFL ever return to L.A.?: As fans, we could care less.
O.C. Register

Clippers 100, Thunder 98.
Underdogs paid big time tonight. At least the Lakers and Clippers did. The Clip Joint was an 8 1/2 point dog to the Thunder, but went into OKC and stole 1. Fortunately for the Thunder, the Lakers hammered the Spurs, leaving them atop of the Western Conference by a slim margin.
NewsOK.com