Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin compared former team owner Donald Sterling to a "weird uncle." He also said Sterling's racist audiotapes weren't surprising.
Steve Ballmer now owns the Clippers, and life seems better in Los Angeles for Griffin and his teammates. The biggest difference between Ballmer and Sterling?
"Steve is a good dude. He's like a cool dad who gives you candy," Griffin wrote Thursday in the Players' Tribune. "Donald was like a weird uncle."
Griffin also described how the addition of Ballmer created a new feeling inside the organization.
"When I walked into the training facility for the first time this summer, the entire vibe was different," he said. "People were smiling. From the security people to the game operations staff to the office staff, everybody seemed happy to be there. For the first time ever, they were on permanent contracts. Under Sterling, all the staff were on temporary contracts. Top to bottom, everybody just appreciates being appreciated now."
TMZ released audiotapes of Sterling making racist remarks against black people to his then mistress. The tapes eventually led to Sterling's lifetime ban from the NBA and the sale of his franchise to Ballmer. While many people were surprised by the racist ranks, Griffin, however, was not.
"I was conflicted when the tapes came out last season, and suddenly everyone had an opinion on what we as players should be doing to handle it," Griffin wrote. "When I woke up the morning after the tape leaked, I had 40 or 50 text messages. The first thing I did was listen to the tape in bed. It was shocking to actually hear what he said, but not really that surprising to me."
Griffin detailed several bizarre interactions he had with Sterling in the past, including being paraded around a party as a rookie and hearing Sterling rant from the sideline about how Baron Davis, who was then Griffin's teammate, was a poor free throw shooter.
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