Still, even this moment, the highlight of the Clippers’ season, was tinged with the bittersweet. For amid the mini-mob scene, as Davis was engulfed by his happy teammates, it was easy to spot Blake Griffin, wearing a pinstriped suit instead of a Clippers jersey and still waiting to play his first minutes in the N.B.A.
Griffin’s participation in the postgame celebration amounted to the most meaningful moments he has spent on the court this season. The first pick in last June’s draft, he had excited the fans of a snakebitten franchise, but then he sustained a stress fracture in his left kneecap in the team’s final preseason game.
As a result, any shot at the playoffs may now be a pipe dream for the Clippers, who, as usual, find themselves hemmed in a Western Conference filled with talented teams. And the rookie-of-the-year chase is probably out of Griffin’s reach. What is left for Griffin is to make some kind of impact this season, maybe beginning in late January, even if it will not immediately turn around the Clippers (14-18).
None of this is new for the Clippers, whose home base at Staples Center is down the hall from the Lakers’ but far removed from their gleam. Each Clippers season is viewed as the one that may wash away the wounds of all those that came before it, but that never happens. In the last 30 years, the franchise has finished with a winning record only twice, cycling through coaches and players without end.
Not that long ago, the Clippers held hope that Elton Brand would rally them; instead, he sustained a torn Achilles’ tendon that cost him much of the 2007-8 season. As Brand departed for Philadelphia, Davis arrived from Golden State, cast as the new franchise-changer before proceeding to struggle in Coach Mike Dunleavy’s system. That left the 6-foot-10 Griffin as the next savior in line.
“With Blake, the thing about him that makes him so special is that he can play big against small teams,” said Dunleavy, who also serves as the franchise’s general manager. “He can guard the smaller guys, and we can pound it in against them. Against the bigger teams, he’s got the quickness to run the floor. He’s a great finisher. He’s a great passer.”
He has yet to do any of that in a game that counts, continuing the Clippers’ dubious luck with the draft. They missed twice on their previous No. 1 selections, taking Danny Manning in 1988 and Michael Olowokandi a decade later. Manning ripped up his knee in his rookie season, later became an All-Star with the Clippers but was traded without ever turning the team around. Olowokandi suffered from weight issues and indifference and eventually washed out of the league. Several other high draft selections did not provide the answer either.
In some ways, Griffin’s injury aligns perfectly with the past. Griffin, though, represents the future and separates himself from whatever misfortune that came before him. He has maintained a positive attitude throughout his setback and displayed it during an interview in Los Angeles last week.
“Take Greg Oden,” Griffin said, referring to the young Portland Trail Blazers center who was the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft and has now sustained two serious knee injuries that are jeopardizing his career. “People didn’t say, ‘Well it’s Portland.’ No matter what happens here, people are going to say stuff like that because of what’s happened. It’s going to take a lot to change that view. I’m no different than any other guy that’s gotten hurt. It’s not like I came to this organization and now I’m not going to be able to play anymore.”
Griffin, who played at Oklahoma, was the consensus top selection in June. And if the draft were held again today, Griffin would probably still top most mock draft boards, injury or no injury. The Clippers have not been second-guessed about selecting Griffin — at least not yet.
The initial prognosis was that Griffin would miss about six weeks. But more than two months into the season, as Milwaukee’s Brandon Jennings and Sacramento’s Tyreke Evans perform a tug of war as early rookie-of-the-year favorites, Griffin is not ready, although he has resumed basketball-related activities.
“It’s part of the basketball, it’s part of athletics, it’s part of life,” Griffin said of the slow rehabilitation process. “It’s not like I’m going to sit at home and sulk and be mad. You’ve just got to work through it and hopefully be better for it.”
As for Jennings and Evans, Griffin said he was happy for them.
“They’re doing what they love and they’re doing it well,” he said. “And that’s the way it should be. People get carried away a lot of the time with consensus this, consensus that. It’s up to how you play, and you don’t know until the season starts. Those guys are doing a great job.”
Griffin and the Clippers would probably never have been linked if they had not leapfrogged the Sacramento Kings and the Washington Wizards to win the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery. Dunleavy, who was overseas to scout point guard Ricky Rubio, booked a flight home the next day and immediately signaled that the organization would select Griffin. The Clippers held only one predraft workout, which was more of an introduction, inviting Griffin and the season-ticket fan base to convene at the team’s training center.
The Clippers also parted with the statistic-stuffer Zach Randolph for little more than salary-cap relief to create playing time for Griffin. And as Randolph pours in 20.2 points and 11.4 rebounds a game for the surprising Memphis Grizzlies, Dunleavy’s Griffin-less Clippers limp along.
“In a lot of their minds, having played in the preseason with Blake Griffin, they feel that once we get Blake back in the mix — our starters have performed really well against other team’s starters,” Dunleavy said.
But for now, Griffin can do little about that. His days are a blend of set shots, weight lifting, jogging and treatment before taking a customary seat behind the bench.
“The key,” he said, “is to just keep moving forward and not rushing.”
For the Clippers, not rushing is nearly ingrained in their team structure. They continually eye a better tomorrow, and Griffin’s debut.
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