NBA Insider Explains Beef Between Steve Nash, Blake Griffin
NBA Insider Explains Beef Between Steve Nash, Blake Griffin
The Brooklyn Nets had a lot of issues last season, but one of the more bizarre mysteries that puzzled fans was the slow exclusion of Blake Griffin from the rotation.
Griffin, when he did play, seemed to try hard and put up a decent effort for a role player. But for some reason, he and head coach Steve Nash couldn’t get on the same page.
It even got to the point where Griffin was openly taking shots at Nash, not even bothering to hide the beef.
During a recent appearance on ‘The Athletic NBA Show,’ Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News explained where precisely things broke down between Nash and Griffin.
“There’s something about Blake Griffin that Steve Nash doesn’t like,” she said.
“I’ll just say that. Maybe not like, but doesn’t feel is deserving of minutes on a basketball floor. I mean you had Blake Griffin basically just wasting away most of the second half of the season because he couldn’t hit a shot.
“That’s what it was, he missed, I don’t remember, it must have twenty or twenty-plus straight open threes to the point where people were just daring him to shoot. He did everything else pretty well, we’re talking about hustled, grabbing rebounds, making the right passes, he did those things well,” she continued.
“But for Steve it boiled down to, he just couldn’t hit an open shot, and that was a liability so that was it. I think that’s probably why they didn’t sign him because why sign him if you aren’t going to play him?”
Griffin’s 26.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc last season obviously leaves a lot to be desired. That said, given the issues both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have seemingly had with Nash, it’s hard not to wonder if perhaps a different coach might’ve figured out a better way to utilize Griffin.
In any case, clearly all sides are moving on.
As things presently stand, there are three teams out there with legit interest bringing Griffin in.
The real reason Alex Rodriguez is back on the market. https://t.co/z66RDYpU8w
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 6, 2022
Which one he will land with remains to be seen.
Will someone pick Griffin up ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season opener?
Time will tell.
Related: Dak Prescott’s GF Natalie Buffett’s Photos Ahead Of Cowboys Opener
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.