Blake Griffin is … zzzzz… boring
For all of the incredible highlights Blake Griffin has provided NBA fans with this season, there is one part of his game that needs some serious work: his interviewing skills.
While his game is full of superlatives, his post-game is full of clichés. One minute he’s throwing down a beastly dunk, forcing you pick up your jaw off the ground, and the other, he’s speaking and you’re struggling to keep your eyes open.
T.J. Simers — love him or hate him columnist at the L.A. Times — apparently told Griffin just how boring he was after his 47-point performance against the Indiana Pacers.
But “it’s all about execution,” as he will tell you, “his teammates doing a good job,” and everyone just “taking one game at a time.” He’s not quite Nuke Laloosh, but not far removed.
As good as he is, he’s going to be interviewed plenty, so for everyone’s benefit I told him just how boring he comes off.
“I didn’t know I was boring until I was told I was boring,” he says with a grin.
“I don’t try to be boring,” he says, nodding when told it must come naturally. “I’m just kind of laid-back, talk slow and grew up listening to my dad, who uses clichés.”
His dad, as you have probably already guessed, is a coach. A high school basketball coach.
Of course, this isn’t the worst problem to have. He’s arguable the most exciting player in Los Angeles, but Kobe has a certain charm in interviews that goes a long way with reporters. There’s also a financial consideration here. Boring Blake just won’t bring the type of endorsement money that Charismatic Blake would. Boring pitchmen typically don’t last long.
The NBA isn’t just played on the court anymore. How many national commercials does Tim Duncan have again?
3 Comments
there's no doubt that if he gets more exciting on the mic, he'll get more money (and the comparison to Jeter was a bad one on my part – even though they both are boring in interviews, Jeter is the Yankees afterall and that makes up for a lot)
Jeter is boring as hell too and full of nothing but cliches and it hasn’t hurt his national commercials…granted playing for the Yankees is different than the clippers
however, the comparison to Tim Duncan isn’t that fair – Duncan is boring to watch on the court, Blake’s not and that will be the difference there in regards to national exposure for Blake compared to Duncan
I’ll give you that about Duncan, and a shoe company might pay just because they figure he’ll be on highlights every night, but to make the big bucks, the public needs to feel like you have a pulse, that you’re interesting or funny or self-deprecating or something.
That’s why I think Jeter is in a different stratosphere than Blake Griffin right now. He’s a five-time champion for the New York Yankees who dates some of the hottest woman around.
The face of the Yankees is slightly different than Blake Griffin, a rookie for the Clippers.
Of course, I could be completely wrong. We’ll check out the endorsement lists this time next year and see what kind of coin he’s pulling in.