Kobe Bryant’s impact is so great that every player who came in contact with him has a story to tell. Blake Griffin played for the Los Angeles Clippers, which is notoriously the little brother team in LA. Of course, Griffin knew how great Bryant was before the Clippers even drafted him, but he soon learned firsthand just how beloved Bryant was in the city where he began his career.
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Griffin didn’t play a single game in his rookie season due to a left knee injury suffered in his final preseason game. The 6-foot-9 forward spent the entire 2009-10 season rehabbing to get back to game shape.
The former Oklahoma Sooner never suspected a run-of-the-mill rehab session would turn into a such a memorable moment.
“I was doing rehab with this really great [personal trainer], and that was Kobe’s lady. Her name was Judy Sato,” Griffin revealed on The Adam Friedland Show. That connection would give Griffin his first interaction with the Los Angeles Lakers legend, which he remembers vividly.
“I’m in the PT clinic, sitting there and got heat and ice on my knee to start. I’m sitting there, and I kind of look up, and the place got eerily quiet. I look over, and Kobe was standing at the entrance,” Griffin recalled.
The Black Mamba doesn’t have that nickname for show. Before he even realized Bryant was in the vicinity, Griffin could tell something was up from the atmosphere in the room. That moment showed him how people responded to Bryant’s presence, particularly in Los Angeles.
“In LA or just in the world, but in LA especially, when you saw him, it was like people got quiet,” Griffin said.
The people of Los Angeles don’t play games when it comes to Bryant. He represented the city when the Lakers were down in the dirt. He showed resilience and continued to bring NBA championships back to the City of Angels.
Bryant has held an even closer place in the hearts of citizens around Los Angeles since his passing. The silence that people had when he walked in the room now occurs at the mere mention his name. The level of respect for the Lakers legend is still incredibly high.
Griffin doesn’t let his allegiance to the Clippers get in the way of how he views Bryant. He has only positive things to say about Kobe, and even the Lakers fans, now that he has put a bow on his 13-year NBA career.
