It's easy to take the Blake Griffin quote I'm about to show you and think, "Woah, BG is really trying to bust somebody up!" But he actually said the following with a slight smile on his face, which basically undermines his entire point.
Per ESPN, which also has video:
"I've never really worried about being called soft or people thinking I'm soft," the Los Angeles Clippers' star power forward said. "If anybody wants to step and take that challenge I'm more than happy — off the court — because I don't want to get suspended. It's not something that I dwell on. I've never really had a problem with being soft."
Honestly, Griffin probably doesn't care at all about the soft label, but the only people who would actually step to Griffin and fight him would be non-NBA players unless he talked to Carmelo about Honey Nut Cheerios. And, yes, he would probably beat any civilian's ass in a fight.
But "soft" in the NBA doesn't mean willingness to fight or ability in a fight. It's a lot more about hierarchy and the on-court ability to earn respect from older peers. Almost every young player comes into the league "soft" because to the NBA vets they haven't done ish. Dwight Howard, or Dwight Coward as he's now known, is the prime example. And no one is lining up to fight that guy.
Aside from jumping a Kia, what has Blake Griffin really accomplished?
As our EIC Vince Thomas wrote just before the All-Star break, it's CP3 who is almost entirely responsible for the success of the Clippers. A young kid trying to act like he's the man without earning it is soft to a lot of guys in the NBA.
Plus, you'd imagine the guy who can dunk on anyone in the league would average more than 0.6 blocks per game, right?
Ultimately, this isn't about Griffin being soft as it is routine NBA hazing/disrespect. Show 'em you belong in the WCF on a regular basis and see who keeps talking. That's the dude you might wanna meet outside.
The rest is mostly noise, which, ironically, he just fed into by saying like he'd actually exchange fair ones with someone for talking a little trash. That means they're already in your head. Kinda soft.
