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Blake Griffin rips own team during interview, teammate video bombs interview. Things got awkward
After starting the season 13-7, the Detroit Pistons have struggled in a big way over the last two months. Since December 3, the Pistons have gone 8-19, failing to piece together a winning streak longer than two games along the way, and they only did that once. The most frustrating part for star power forward Blake Griffin has been Detroit's inability to win close games. Five of those 19 losses since December 3 have come by three points or less.
On Wednesday, the Pistons were finally on the right end of a close game, beating the New Orleans Pelicans on the road 98-94. Griffin had one of his best games of the season, scoring 37 points on 14-for-28 shooting and adding nine boards and seven assists. It was Detroit's third win in its last five games, as they try to get back on track and in the playoff picture. Cause for celebration, right? Yeah, not so much.
As the clear star of the game, Griffin was interview afterwards by a reporter from Fox Sports Detroit, and you would think the Pistons had lost the game judging by the interview. Griffin ripped his own team and they way they finished, saying "this is nothing to be proud of, this is just masking our issue. We got to lock in and finish games. Our lack of focus at the end of games has been awful, that's why we lose games like this." Ouch.
If that wasn't awkward enough, teammate Reggie Jackson, who clearly wasn't feeling the same as Griffin postgame, "video bombed" Griffin's interview in a playful manner, leading to this cringey moment:
Awkward is right. The video bomb in a postgame interview in the NBA almost always leads to the two teammates yucking it up and playing it up for the camera like a bunch of silly gooses. This instance looks A BIT different:
"Maybe he'll just go away ... "
"Nope, okay, let's get this half-assed bro hug over with."
"Please kill me now."
All jokes aside, this exchange would not instill a ton of confidence in me if I were a Pistons fan. At no point does Griffin even make eye contact with Jackson. Not great. Will be interesting to see how the upcoming stretch of games goes for Detroit, a team currently a 1.5 games out of the eight seed behind teams like the Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets and Brooklyn Nets.