Hey, what’s up everybody? This is Blake Griffin, a 2009 NBA Draft hopeful. I’m excited about the opportunity. I’m just working out right now and looking forward to fulfilling a dream of being able to play in the NBA.
THE CLIPPERS STATED THEIR INTENTIONS TO DRAFT ME
It definitely makes it a little less of a guessing game. It makes you a little bit more comfortable. But, at the same time, nothing is set in stone. A lot of things can happen between now until then so really I’m just trying to go about it the right way and not just assume everything is going to happen the way it’s supposed to with the Clippers drafting me.
I LOVE L.A.
I like Los Angeles a lot. I played there a couple times when I was at Oklahoma and about a month ago I went down and stayed about four or five days there. I liked it a lot. Obviously, there’s plenty to do. The traffic is bad and all that, but I still definitely look forward to it.
TURNING AROUND THE CLIPPERS
It would definitely be great to help the Clippers get back on track. They have so many great players and last year they had injuries and some different stuff which hurt. I’d definitely love to come in and be a part of kind of helping change the direction of the way the team’s going.
OFF THE COURT – LOVE ME SOME KARDASHIANS
Basically I just like hanging out with my friends and just having fun when I’m not playing. Honestly, it’s just kind of hanging around or going out to eat or doing simple stuff like that. I don’t really play video games, I don’t do a lot of hobbies. I just love hanging out and people watching. You know, I can have fun with my friends just walking around. Sometimes I’ll relax by watching TV. I love The Office, I love Family Guy other than that, I’ll watch different stuff. Actually, I’ll watch Keeping Up with the Kardashians, that’s one of my shows that I’m not particularly proud of that I watch but I’ll find myself watching it. It’s just one of those shows, I don’t know.
On my iPod you’ll find almost everything. Not really country, not really heavy metal, but I listen to a lot of different stuff. I listen to a lot of Jimi Hendrix.
THAT DUNK ON SYRACUSE
You might have seen the dunk online or something. That was a first for me. I just wanted to throw it down and didn’t realize how close to the sideline I was. I had a lot of people randomly ask me, “How’s your head?” since then. It’s much better. I haven’t really felt any effects from that. I catch light-hearted stuff like that.
HOW I’VE IMPROVED
I feel like I have gotten a lot better since the NCAA tournament and that comes with just working out every day and that’s basically it. I think about how good I’ve become and how that could translate to the college game next season, but I think it was time to move on. I wouldn’t be able to work out that much and try to improve that much in college.
OTHER PROSPECTS
When I went to the Chicago predraft camp, obviously all those guys were there and I keep in touch with a lot of those guys, but my brother, Taylor, is out here with me in San Francisco and he’s working to get on a team. So is Anthony Goods from Stanford and Jeff Adrien from UConn
I didn’t get a chance to see much of the on-court workouts in Chicago so I didn’t get to see all of the other guys, but I did watch a little bit of it on ESPN U. I thought Jrue Holiday did really well. Other than that I didn’t really pay a whole lot of attention to that.
COUNTING DOWN UNTIL JUNE 25th
I stay pretty busy. I do have a calendar with the date circled, but that’s more about keep everything organized with the different places I’ll be and all that. It’s been so busy that it really hasn’t been one of those things where I’m just waiting for the time to go by. It really has gone really quickly. I’m just trying to have fun with it and cherish every minute of it.
I really don’t feel a lot of pressure. That’s not really something I believe in. Right now it’s a lot of fun for me. I’m just trying to experience it and not let it bog me down or anything like that.
NBA FINALS – LAKERS WILL WIN
I’ve been watching a lot of the NBA Playoffs. It’s been great. Out here on the West Coast we’re normally training during the first part of the games but I get to check out the second half or the last quarter of the games.
I’m going to say the Lakers will win. Before everything started I was saying the Lakers and Cavs in The Finals and even though the Lakers and Orlando will be a great series, I think the Lakers have the advantage against them.
BEING COMPARED TO AMAR’E
I could see the reason why people liken me to Amar’e Stoudemire a little bit from a standpoint of coming in. We kind of have a little bit of the same build. When he first came into the league all he did was try to dunk everything and that’s kind of my mentality a little bit. But I can’t really think of one guy who I would say I model my game after.
MY CAREER GOALS
I hope to be an All-Star at some point. For next year though, one of my goals is to be Rookie of the Year and be in the running for that. After that, it’s just keep building, keep moving forward and help a team get to an NBA championship and be an All-Star.
Playing against some of the best competition in the world is obviously difficult but, I’ve been around the game for a long time and a lot of things kind of come naturally. But, at the same time, I still have a lot to work on and I want to improve on.
This is a personal weblog. The views expressed here are those of Blake Griffin and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the NBA or NBA.com and its partners.
