Blake Griffin (Photo : NBAE via Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Clippers may have boosted their chances of keeping Blake Griffin this season, and preventing any team from prying the All-Star forward out of LA in the summer of 2017.
With Russell Westbrook agreeing to a three-year contract extension with the Thunder, Oklahoma City is hoping to stage a homecoming for Griffin next summer, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
"Once, it was James Harden and Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Now, it's a superstar solo act - with an eye upon Los Angeles Clippers All-Star forward Blake Griffin in 2017 free agency. Griffin is an Oklahoma kid gone Hollywood, a star who has his own tensions with Chris Paul on the Clippers," Wojnarowski wrote.
Griffin's five-year $94.5 million contract with the Clippers ends in 2018, but the 27-year-old forward has an early termination option in the final year, which could see him exploring free agency next summer. The Thunder, after securing Westbrook, could be in pole position to land Griffin, who grew up and played college ball in Oklahoma. However, Griffin's side career in Hollywood may cloud any chances of him playing for the Thunder in the foreseeable future.
According to Deadline, Griffin has sold an animated comedy television show to Fox, a show in which the former Slam Dunk champion himself will serve as an executive producer. The report also claimed that Griffin "may voice the project but only if his basketball season schedule allows."
"In the vein of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Beverly Hills Hillbillies, Okies of Bel Air is the story of a family of humble Oklahoma catfish farmers who, after their basketball prodigy son is chosen first overall in the NBA draft, pack up and move to the tony enclave of Bel Air, where they'll struggle to preserve their down-home sensibilities amidst a vast cultural wasteland where Kardashian reigns supreme and pressed juice is considered a viable alternative to childhood vaccinations."
Earlier this week, Griffin also staged a 10-minute stand-up comedy at Off-JFL, a part of Montreal's Just for Laughs comedy festival, and could be on his way starring "Space Jam 2" after NBA great Michael Jordan endorsed him to star the potential sequel to the movie.
Big market teams such as the LA Lakers and New York Knicks may have a chance to woo Griffin, but not so much for teams like the Thunder, especially if Griffin full embraces the Hollywood limelight.
