Blake Griffin frustrated by LA Clippers' lack of recognition for 'Lob City' era New York Times (Online) Devon Henderson Blake Griffin, now a late-night talk show host, has begun publicly airing his grievances with the Los Angeles Clippers, the team he helped build from a league doormat into a perennial playoff contender. Griffin, 37, expressed to Front Office Sports that he never felt he got the recognition his “Lob City”-era Clippers deserved from the organization. The former All-Star forward said on FOS's latest episode of “ Portfolio Players” that, “I don't think we've ever been asked to come back or do anything or honor that team.” Teamed with fellow All-NBA players Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan, alongside a solid cast of role players and coached by Doc Rivers, the Clippers made six consecutive playoff appearances from 2012-17. They had made the playoffs only four times in the previous 35 seasons. The Clippers averaged 54.6 wins per season Either say over the five full seasons in that run, and have had only two 50-win seasons since. In an era when the Lakers were lagging as Kobe Bryant's career wound down, the Clippers made some rare headlines in the city. The Clippers took Griffin with the No. 1 pick in 2009. He started playing in 2010-11 because of injuries, winning Rookie of the Year. “You look back, and you have a sense of pride because of what the Clippers were before,” Griffin said. “It was often a punchline. I think that we feel pride in that we got that franchise to a place where you're expected to make the playoffs, you're expected to go further. “Having those expectations and not ultimately achieving our goal of a championship is one thing, but just raising the bar and that cliche of just leaving a place better than you found it (is another).” Blake Griffin says the Clippers have never reached out to the “Lob City” group, which made six straight playoff trips with him and Chris Paul. "I don't think we've ever been asked to come back or do anything or honor that team.” Full story: https://t.co/oo1raKlsF6 pic.twitter.com/5YTXWqzq7n — Front Office Sports (@FOS) October 20, 2026 During that run, the team never made it past the second round of the NBA playoffs, a data point many use to mar the legacy of the era. Griffin shared with Pablo Torre on his podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” released on Tuesday, that the lack of team silverware isn't lost on him. “Sure, we didn't win a championship,” Griffin told Torre. “We didn't accomplish that ultimate goal, but I do think we look back on it with like a sense of pride.” Griffin also recently spoke with The Athletic's Law Murray about the frugality of the franchise during his tenure there under its previous owner, Donald Sterling. “Among a lot of the more serious problems with Donald, he was notoriously cheap,” Griffin told Murray. “He never wanted to spend money; he cut back every single (way) he could. And now, the Clippers have this owner who is basically, like, 'I mean, is the salary cap, like, a rule or is it just, like, a suggestion?' You know, he's happy to pay over the salary cap. He's happy to go above and beyond to spend. So, in terms of Clippers fans, they got one end of the spectrum to the other.” The “more serious problems” likely referred to leaked audio released by TMZ in 2014 that revealed Sterling criticizing his girlfriend for bringing Black people to Clippers games and associating or taking pictures with them, including NBA legend Magic Johnson. His comments got him banned from the NBA for life by commissioner Adam Silver, forcing the sale of the franchise to current owner Steve Ballmer, who bought the team for $2 billion in May 2014. Ballmer is now also banned from the NBA for a year as a penalty for salary-cap circumvention involving seven-time All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard, following a yearlong NBA investigation. The franchise has been in existence for 56 years, since being founded as the Buffalo Braves in 1970. It is one of five NBA organizations that have never made a Finals appearance in their history. The Clippers are also the only team in the league with zero team-specific recognized retired jerseys. (The New Orleans Pelicans retired Pete Maravich's jersey, even though he never played for the Pelicans. Maravich played for the New Orleans Jazz after playing collegiately at LSU.) Griffin told The Athletic he won't campaign too heavily to be the first to see his jersey in the rafters. He made five All-Star and four All-NBA teams in his eight seasons with the franchise before being traded to the Detroit Pistons in January 2018. “The jersey retirement thing, that's a fan and an organization decision,” Griffin told The Athletic . “I mean, more so an organization decision. I'm not going to go picket outside of Intuit Dome like, 'Retire 32!' So, it's a true honor when people do say that to me. But like I said, that's not my decision.” He understands the franchise's fickle nature when it comes to properly revering its stars. Just last season, his former running mate and team leader, Paul, signed with the franchise to spend the final stretch of his decorated 21-season NBA career. Amid the team's 5-16 start, Paul's relationship with the coaching staff and head coach Tyronn Lue had deteriorated beyond reconciliation . Paul was dismissed and sent home from the team's road trip in Atlanta in December 2025. Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank later announced at 2:40 a.m. on December 3, 2025, that the team was parting ways with its once-biggest star. “What's interesting about that whole situation is, it's probably one of the most disrespectful things that I've endured,” Paul said afterward on the “Build or Break” podcast. “… Just because of the investment we made in the team for as long as we have, and to see the way stuff was handled. What it lets you know is that no matter what you do or what you've done, nobody cares.” Griffin is an analyst on Prime Video's NBA pregame show and also hosts his own late-night show, “The Stepback with Blake Griffin.” — “Pablo Torre Finds Out” is produced by Meadowlark Media and became part of The Athletic Podcast Network last September through a licensing deal.