Blake Griffin is generally considered one of the greatest dunkers of his generation. The six-time All-Star was named the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion in his only year participating in the event. He has also produced plenty of memorable in-game dunks.
Speaking on the Run It Back podcast, Griffin was asked for his Mt. Rushmore of dunkers, responding:
Vince [Carter] is number one to me. Dunk contest, Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon’s dunk contest, I think it’s one of the best ones since probably Vince. In game dunkers, Shawn Kemp. I love the way Dominique [Wilkins] dunked just because he dunked so hard… I’ve got to put MJ in there because of the iconic, him sort of setting off the dunk contest with Dominique… Vince, MJ, Dominique, and I’ll say… I’m not putting myself on my own Mt. Rushmore.
While Carter is widely considered the greatest dunker of all-time, each player named is worthy of being on a dunkers Mt. Rushmore. Despite his humble response to his name being suggested, Griffin himself has a strong case to make the list.
Blake Griffin disputes rumors that he is feuding with Chris Paul
Blake Griffin and Chris Paul were teammates for six seasons on the Los Angeles Clippers. The team failed to advance past the second round despite both players being perennial All-Stars in their prime. There have been rumors that the two stars were not always on the same page.
During a recent appearance on the Run It Back podcast, Griffin shut those rumors down, stating:
You watch a clip, you see something, you run with it, it’s a story, it gets clicks, it’s great. And then on top of that, once we all left and went our separate ways, first time I played against JJ [Redick], we got into it. First time I played against CP, we got into it. It just happens.
The nature of bringing people who are uber competitive, even if they played together for a long time and now they’re going against each other, you’re still on the other team. It’s all love after the game, but during the game, no. So that feeds into it as well.
It’s a narrative, and what’s the better story? ‘Oh these guys hate each other’ or ‘yeah, they’re great guys and they all get along, they just didn’t win’. That’s not a story.
Despite their inability to win it all, both players had tremendous individual success during their time as teammates. Griffin made four All-Star and All-NBA Teams in that span, while Paul received each honor five times.
Griffin averaged 21.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks per game while shooting 52.0%. Paul averaged 18.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 9.8 apg, 2.2 spg and 0.1 bpg. He shot 47.5% from the field, 37.8% from three-point range and 88.1% from the free-throw line, winning two assists titles and three steals titles.
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