Clippers depending on Blake Griffin to lead is a mistake
By Keith Rivas
Believe it or not, the Clippers trusting Blake Griffin as their new leader isn’t going to end well for them.
We still aren’t really sure how to make of the Clippers and their wild off-season, but the reality is that things will be changing at a quick pace for Los Angeles. Once thought to be a contender, the Clippers making the playoffs now seems highly questionable.
In place of point guard Chris Paul’s leadership, it appears that the Clippers are ready to go all in on depending on Blake Griffin. There’s plenty of new pieces to the puzzle in town, and Griffin stepping up is what will determine the outcome and input of those players.
Above all else, the Clippers run the risk of clashing egos now that Chris Paul isn’t there. Once the Rockets became the clear landing spot for Paul, it became apparent that he and head coach of the Clippers Doc Rivers didn’t really get along.
This raises the question of how other players really feel about Rivers, and whether or not that could become a major distraction. Knowing that Griffin could have left Los Angeles this past summer, he only returned after the Clippers gave him a five year deal.
That being said, the recent collapses that Griffin and the Clippers have gone through in the previous postseasons are enough to hurt a team from within. Trust issues between teammates could arise, but it starts and ends with how Blake Griffin handles his new role.
The former number one overall pick will also have to make a completely new offense work. There will be growing pains and kinks along the way, but Griffin being the wrong guy for a leadership role boils down to one thing.
He won’t be there when the team needs him most.
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This happened even with Chris Paul on the team, but his absence in the moments LA really needed him cost the Clippers some of the most important games of the season. In short, he’s just not ready for that kind of responsibility and hasn’t demonstrated that he’ll excel the way that things are heading.