Blake Griffin looks back on a year well-played

[mkwest]

"My last day of rehab was … a year ago," Griffin said Tuesday. "I'm blessed to be playing in all 82 games after sitting out all 82."

"I know," Griffin said with a wry smile. "That's why it was frustrating for me to hear that. I heard everything. I heard that I was a bust. That I was a waste of a draft pick. That the Clippers messed up. That I was the next Greg Oden. I heard all of that.

"For me, in my mind, I'm not one of those players. I'm not an injury-prone guy. The most games I missed was, like, two in college. For me, it was frustrating. But it made me become patient."

Griffin's spring and summer will be spent finding new new weapons to counter the adjustments made by the opposition, and working on his shooting and ball handling.

"You've got to keep getting better," he said. "The most exciting thing about it is I can tell a huge difference in my game from the beginning of the year."

"I'm just going to be a bum for three weeks," he said.

Uh, three weeks? Griffin revised that, slightly, saying: "I don't know. It'll be at least two weeks. I'll need that."

Lisa Dillman, LA Times

[DangerCurtis]

"That I was a Greg Oden" BUUUUURRRRRNNNN!

Glad to see that he has proven many of his critics wrong and that the team continues to improve and stay healthy for years to come.

[Doharg]

He deserves a ton of credit for coming back after a season-long injury and playing so fearlessly. Kudos!

[playaloc916]

I'm glad he had a full, solid season after coming back from the knee injury. He surprised the heck out of me. I remember a thread on the general board on what BG's stats would be, and I think most people were predicting he would average like 10-15 points and 5-7 boards a game. Even I didn't think he'd have such a big season averaging 22-12.

I'm glad he's going to take some time off. I think he should take more actually. He's definitely earned it.

And lol at the shot at Greg Oden.