Blake Griffin: Being Compared to Karl Malone, LeBron James

Though the public at large has seen very little of Blake in the L, his teammates can’t stop gushing about him. From the LA Times: “Suspense about the progress of the Clippers will officially end Tuesday in Portland, the first of their eight preseason games. But forward Craig Smith, most helpfully, provided something of a shortcut, a guest primer on all things Griffin. Smith was asked if Griffin was 98.9% back after having missed all of last season because of a stress fracture in his left kneecap. ‘159.7531 percent,’ he said, smiling. ‘Blake’s looking real good. He’s determined. I’m happy for him. Happy he’s back on the court. You know he’s going to do some special things this year.’ A few minutes later, he got much more specific about Griffin’s considerable talents. ‘I can say this. I never played against Karl Malone,” Smith said. “But he has the strength of Karl Malone but can run and jump like LeBron James. He can definitely make LeBron plays, defensively. Out in the open, he can make something special happen. He’s kind of like a specialist. He has the best of both worlds. The physical strength, the power and he can run like a deer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was running a 40-yard dash with a car in the way, if he wouldn’t hurt the car versus hurting himself.'”