Blake Griffin took the next step as a player this season — moving away from being simply a highlight reel — while becoming a go-to force for the Clippers.
This postseason — Griffin is putting up historically great numbers — while posting three triple doubles.
Griffin admitted that he reached out to the vanquished Tim Duncan for advice.
Per CBS Sports:
The story is much more technical and complicated, and the prologue was written during the months after the Clippers lost to the Thunder in six games in the Western Conference Semifinals last spring. It was a mixture of hours spent reinventing his shooting stroke with Clippers shooting coach Bob Thate … grueling conditioning workouts that pushed the envelope of science and technology … and a series of heart-to-hearts with the Spurs’ Tim Duncan about how to be a better leader and winner. […] “He really respects Tim,” said Griffin’s Atlanta-based business manager, Lorne Clark. “His thing was, “How do I become more of a leader and how do I help this team win? What do I have to do?”
Produce, Duncan told him. Lead by example. Make people respect your actions. Have personal relationships with each of your teammates so you can have one-on-one conversations with them when they need you. […] Griffin listened, and took notes. Then, during the idyllic summer months in LA, it was time to execute the plan.
The gym became Griffin’s lab. Most days, when Clark texted him at 7 a.m. to find out his schedule, Griffin was already there — either on the Clippers’ practice court in Playa Vista with Thate, resetting his shooting mechanics, or at a private training facility in El Segundo with his trainer, Robbie Davis, who taught Griffin how much harder, and smarter, he could work. […] After the loss to the Thunder, Griffin reported for duty at Davis’ Gameshape Inc. training facility — 17 miles from Staples Center, deep inside an angular, two-tone concrete warehouse surrounded by a mix of commercial and residential buildings. Griffin put on a breathing mask, strapped a heart-rate monitor around his chest and went to work.