Blake Griffin said he felt dissed when he was traded by the Los Angeles Clippers to the Detroit Pistons in 2018.
Griffin was the Clippers' star player at that time, and the team even hung up a digital version of his jersey — as to say they'd officially retire it one day.
“I didn’t want the [free agency] pitch anymore than anybody else did," he told Yahoo Sports. "To me it wasn’t about the fake jersey retirement, that’s not when I was like, ‘oh yeah, I’m signing back here.’ It was the best decision at the time for me. At the end of the day, the only thing that I wish happened differently was I wish they had given me the same respect like some teams give to guys when they say, ‘hey, we’re gonna go in a different direction and we want to make this work for everybody.’"
Griffin then said the Clippers' front office wasn't honest with him about being traded.
"I went in and asked somebody in the front office on the day of. It was tip-toed around," he explained. "[They said] you’ll be the first call, that didn’t happen. I completely understand if a team wants to go in a different direction. I just wish I had been privy to the information before everybody else was.”