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The Celtics needed depth in their frontcourt because Robert Williams is injured, and so they signed NBA veteran Blake Griffin to a one-year deal.
Griffin, who wore No. 2 with the Nets, will wear No. 91 with his new team. He will be the first player in franchise history to wear the number. The six-time All-Star has a very interesting reason for why he made the change.
This is a tribute to Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman, per Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn. Rodman would be an ideal player for Griffin to try and emulate during his time with the Celtics.
Griffin, a longtime Jordan Brand endorser, has spoken about Rodman before (via Late Night With Seth Meyers):
“[MJ] told us the story about Dennis Rodman needing a vacation in the middle of the season and going to Vegas. And for so long, that was like, my go-to [when] people are like: ‘What’s Jordan like?’ I’m like: ‘Oh, I got something cool. Here’s this story.’ And I would just, you know, give them this Dennis Rodman story. And then as he started to tell this story during ‘The Last Dance’ I was just like: ‘Ugh. I don’t have that, like, cool story anymore … My go-to story where I had everything keyed up.’ So now I’ve got to think of something else.”
Griffin will have a chance to suit up for his first preseason game with the Celtics when they face the Raptors on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Sixers Wire’s Ky Carlin sat down with Philadelphia’s Danuel House, who also has his own record label. He was asked about what music he likes to listen to before games, and he gave a super interesting answer:
“I listen to a lot of people’s music. Of course, I listen to mine, of course. Some stuff that I haven’t released and then I still go back to the old stuff and current rappers and up-to-date. So I listen to anything that’s pretty much good. Anything that I feel is good I’ll listen to. The tempo. It’s all the beat, BPMs, and the tempos and all that That stuff really matters. Especially when you got a high-intensity game. You wanna come up with your pace running so you want a faster song.”
You can read the full interview here.
Shootaround
— Suns shockingly became the first NBA team to lose a preseason game to a non-NBA team since 2015
— Lakers nearly traded Russell Westbrook for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield last week, but they got cold feet
— Rockets Wire’s Ben DuBose reviews Houston’s first preseason game
— HoopsHype ranks the 76 greatest international players of all-time
