Clippers make shirt comparing Blake Griffin to MLK, Lincoln and then Twitter explodes
Apparently Twitter does not believe Griffin belongs alongside nine historical icons
NBA teams go to great lengths to attract free agents during the offseason. Whether it's putting a potential signee's image on a billboard, creating a virtual reality experience or even locking a player in his own house until he signs a contract, the league has seen everything over the years.
Well, almost everything.
The Clippers recently convinced Blake Griffin to re-sign with the team on a five-year, $173 million contract. According to Marc J. Spears of ESPN, one of the tools the team used to coerce him was a T-shirt, which a lot of people on Twitter find pretty offensive.
Clippers employees wore T-shirt after Blake Griffin's FA meeting likening him to MLK, Obama, Ali, JFK, Lincoln, Gandhi, MJ,Einstein,Mandela. pic.twitter.com/BZtXqhdrWr
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) July 1, 2017
The shirt features Griffin at the top of an illustration containing the faces of Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama, Muhammad Ali, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein and Nelson Mandela with the word "Pioneers" written across the bottom.
Many folks on Twitter found the idea of comparing Griffin to famous world leaders and cultural icons appalling and/or downright laughable. Here's a sampling of some of the reactions:
/backs away incredibly slowly https://t.co/Jhmsvq6iWW
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) July 1, 2017
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) July 1, 2017
That T-shirt is one of the most tone deaf things I've ever seen. Free agency has been hilariously ridiculous so far.
— Chris Herring (@Herring_NBA) July 1, 2017
Celebrating the news of Blake Griffin re-signing with the Clippers and then seeing the shirt the team used in the meeting to re-sign him. pic.twitter.com/G2Vek4sbTb
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) July 1, 2017
i've been staring at this for a while and i JUST noticed michael jackson pic.twitter.com/igBU4LL2EN
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) July 1, 2017
Someone please make a tshirt of Blake punching the trainer in the style of Luetze's Washington Crossing the Delaware
— ☕netw3rk (@netw3rk) July 1, 2017
As the first person to dunk over a car, both Blake and the Kia Optima deserve to be on this shirt https://t.co/sh2Qfz3PQ4
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) July 1, 2017
Say what you will about Donald Sterling, but I'm fairly confident this wouldn't have happened under his watch. AK https://t.co/fbWSGddoBg
— Kamenetzky Brothers (@KamBrothers) July 1, 2017
Clippers gonna Clippers. It's a tradition unlike any other. https://t.co/LIWNcttTaG
— Anthony F. Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) July 1, 2017
Please move this franchise https://t.co/KlzmNvHGvw
— Silver Screen & Roll (@LakersSBN) July 1, 2017
Thought exercise - What would be the worst thing on a shirt you'd tolerate if the people wearing it were also handing you $173 mil? https://t.co/OEH9skUVUR
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) July 1, 2017
Every free agent must demand this. I wanna see a PIONEEPS shirt with Joe Ingles' face on it https://t.co/gBUee4x8bK
— Seth Rosenthal (@seth_rosenthal) July 1, 2017
https://t.co/gNy9MVPaX0 pic.twitter.com/Q8euiJwRXG
— Chillin in my Bacta (@AminESPN) July 1, 2017
Free agency is just incredible. This is almost banana boat level absurdity. https://t.co/cnFyUiKV4M
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) July 1, 2017
Neither the Clippers nor Griffin have issued a response to the shirt as of yet. After scoring a huge free agency win by getting Griffin to re-sign, this is probably the last kind of public relations nightmare the Clippers wanted to deal with.
















