Blake Griffin Is Wearing the Wrong Number
Face it…this guy wasn’t born, he was designed in a lab somewhere. There were supercomputers, pocket protectors and lots of taped glasses involved in bringing Griffin to the NBA. But he needs a new number.
Not that there’s anything wrong with #32; it’s been worn in all sports by many who were head and shoulders above the rest…Jim Brown, Sandy Koufax, and the NBA’s own Magic Johnson for starters. But this guy may be in a class all his own. Just look at his last few games.
The Heat-Clips game from the other night was noteworthy not for the Heat vs. the Clippers, rather for the anointed Miami triumvirate vs. Blake Griffin. The supposed best team in basketball against a single throwback to a more physical era. A few days later we get Griffin vs. the defending champion Lakers, his combination of athleticism and monstrous size was clearly a source of frustration for the other L.A. team. Yesterday, he dropped 47 points on a Pacer team that looked like they may have need to call out the National Guard to stop him.
The numbers are impressive, but they don’t tell the story. Griffin has left the runway heading for a mythic, Bill Brasky-like status. Everybody who has noticed is already oohing-and-aahing over his 6-10, 250-pound frame that can attack the rim like a playground point guard. But he is largely an unknown quality toiling in the doldrums of professional sports that are the Clippers.
"Do you know Blake Giffin? Then let me buy you a drink!"
This means he is still in that phase where he can be all things to all fans; they are still able to project whatever they want on him. However, the more backboard-rattling thunderdunks he unleashes, the more he gets into spats with the Mario Chalmers the Lamar “Mr. Kardashian” Odoms of the world, the more we will love it, and the broader the legend will become. You could see it in the Heat game after the aforementioned dust-up with Chalmers. On the following possession, Griffin blew past Dwayne Wade like he’d been glued to the floor and put a double-pump rim-rape on Chris Bosh so fierce he may need months of therapy to recover.
These are the moments where I realized that #32 was just not going to fit this guy. He’s more like a #52 – a B-52.
Think about it…the first thing you notice about a B-52 is the same thing you notice about Griffin; the sheer size. You think there is no way something that large can leave the ground in the manner that it does. But you quickly find out that you are mistaken. Once in the air, you notice the grace; something that big shouldn’t look that natural in the air.
Then there’s the impact.
Like the soundtrack to a vision of savage beauty underscored by the fact that you can’t focus from the rumbling of the ground under your feet. The meeting of ball and net, of bomber and hoopster, at the same time fills you with song and punches the air from your lungs You fear for those in harm’s way, but you squeal with delight at the sheer bloodlust.
I can’t remember a time such grace and destruction came in the same package since that fleeting glimpse known as Darryl Dawkins. But that was just a glimpse. If the B-52 analogy holds, we strap #52 on Griffin and a cowboy hat on Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro so he may do his best “‘Major Kong” impression in the NBA remake of the Kubrick homage to the B-52, Dr. Strangelove.
About J-Dub
4 comments on “Blake Griffin Is Wearing the Wrong Number”
Drop Your Comments Here
The Man Behind Dubsism
Dubsism on Pinterest
Click On JoePa-Kenobi To Feel The Power Of The Jedi Photoshop Trick. Besides, you can get the best sports-related recipes ever. This is the sports-related content you are looking for.
Blog Directories
Dubsism 
A friend recently wrote this about Blake Griffin. I thought you might dig.
http://www.sportscasualties.com/2011/01/18/blake-griffin-is-taking-over-my-entire-existence/
LikeLike
This was awesome. I had to post a link to it on the Dubsism Facebook page.
LikeLike
Blake is unreal. I don’t even think words can describe what he does on the floor. I like that B-52 you came up with, very clever nickname.
I think he has that it factor that Lebron doesn’t seem to have. He plays hard on every play until the clock or a whistle stops him.
LikeLike
Plus, in a few years when he becomes a Laker, it will sound funny for him to say “I’m taking my talents to Los Angeles.”
LikeLike