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| Blake Griffin has been very busy this summer. (Getty Images) |
I get exhausted just reading about what Blake Griffin is up to this summer.
The Clippers star has been quite the busy baller on and off the court in the last few months. For starters, Griffin is rebuilding his shot from scratch, something that isn't easy to do. Griffin appeared on a podcast with The Champs (not safe for work) and talked about it, (transcription courtesy of ESPN):
Griffin: I hired a shooting coach. I work with him every single day.
Champs: What do you do?
Griffin: Change the mechanics a little bit, streamline it kind of. And hopefully that helps.
Champs: You said something interesting, which was that you were shooting as you were falling down. You were turning everything into like, a fadeaway kind of.
Griffin: Yeah kind of a fadeaway or a push-arm shot. Or bring it behind my head -- slightly. Like if you watched me shoot you wouldn’t be like, “That’s a terrible shot.” It was decent, I guess. But now I’ve just kind of streamlined it. But I’ve still got a lot of work to do.
Champs: That’s exciting, do you feel improvement from it already?
Griffin: Yea, absolutely. It took a little bit but you finally turn a corner to where you’re just like, “Ah! Yes!”
Champs: Were you just like, “I suck! This isn’t going to work just let me shoot my old way!”
Griffin: Kind of, yeah. You struggle with it because when you relearn all this stuff I guess you shoot terrible. You shoot worse than you ever have. Then you turn a corner when it all kind of clicks together. It’s not really relearning to shoot, completely, but I turned the corner and felt a lot better about it. Then I got hurt ... lost it all!
via Blake Griffin's gym rat summer - TrueHoop Blog - ESPN.
Griffin took a tremendous amount of heat last year for not having a better all-around offensive game. He shot just 35 percent from 10 feet and beyond last season. The hitch in his jumper giddy-up not only meant that his percentage was poor, it also meant that defenders had time to close and challenge the shot.
If Griffin adds the mid-range shot, and I'm not talking huge improvement, if he can just get to 40 or 42 percent, that's going to open up wonders in his game. Particularly if he can add that to his post-up game, going to the pivot jumper from the baseline or middle. The more weapons he has to force the defense to be aware of, the more difficult it will become to stop him, which means the lane opens up and he can do what he does best: dunk with all the might of the gods.
But Griffin's not just busy on the court. From the Orange County Register:
Blake Griffin of the NBA Clippers" data-canon="Los Angeles Lakers" data-type="SPORTS_OBJECT_TEAM" id="shortcode0">, Troy Polamalu of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers, Rudy Gay of the NBA Memphis Grizzlies and Hope Solo of the U.S. Women's Soccer team have become equity partners in Hyperice, which recently started selling its ice compression wraps for prevention or treatment of sprains, tendonitis and other activity-related conditions.
Griffin's already a marketing beast, appearing in ads for Subway and Kia ("UVO, play funk"). But this is a step forward in that he's actually part of ownership along with Polamalu, Gay, and Solo, forming a pretty powerful team of sports personalities.
It's also another sign of how Griffin has shown at a very young age an awareness and ingenuity when it comes to his money and brand. He's not a passive entertainment entity, he's always making appearances and doing things to expand his exposure, but he's also involved in a great many revenue streams. He really should be a model for guys in how to build themselves into a commodity without sacrificing their time or exclusiveness of their participation.
Finally, SoleCollector.com lists Griffin as one of the biggest free agents in the shoe market this summer, and lists Under Armor as a possible fit:
With a brand like Under Armour still on the hunt for a major market star, the possibility of being lost in the shuffle behind signature athletes like LeBron, Kobe and KD if he stays at Nike, and the chance to really make his mark with the brute strength and raw power image of UA, it would make a ton of sense for Griffin to lead the Baltimore-based brand as they continue to grow in the basketball market.
Of course, a lot of that discussion will come down to pure dollars, and several people throughout the industry think Blake – with his combination of the L.A. market, being on a playoff team, his beastly highlight dunks and his camera presence – could command as much as $5 million per year on a new five-year endorsement deal. That'd be quite a raise from his first sneaker deal, but he's certainly done his best to earn it with his electrifying play and growing personality. A deal with Under Armour has to be enticing for Blake, as the company is known for huge national brand campaigns that he could take part in and really leverage to expand his reach.
via The Industry // The Top 5 Sneaker Free Agents This Summer | Sole Collector.
It would be a monster land for Under Armor, whose two biggest basketball stars in their burgeoning market are Brandon Jennings and Derrick Williams (or Kemba Walker, depending on how you consider him). But you have to think the Chinese market is going to be a pull. Griffin is becoming a force of his own. Now he just has to get his defense up to snuff.
It's a huge summer for Griffin, even as the addition of Dwight Howard pushed him down the ladder of star power in Southern California.
