Blake Griffin covers GQ's first "aging" issue where he opens up about fatherhood, dating, working for a racist and getting hated on by Charles Barkley. More inside....
In the October issue of GQ, LA Clippers star Blake Griffin shows a side of himself we knew never existed. First, he revealed that he believes in creationism (not evolution). Then, we learn he's had some really STRANGE encounters with Donald Sterling (who once held his hand at a party).
"It was unfortunate. I mean, for me, like I said, the first thing I ever Googled about the man, the first thing that popped up was ‘racist.’ So I was aware. I hate to say this, and it might sound ignorant, but I wasn't surprised that all this came up”
Also, he has a hard time meeting women in LA.“People just think about L.A. and they think, ‘Oh, there’s so many beautiful women out here,’ and things of that nature. But it is so hard to find just like a decent, like straight, you know, across-the-line, just like good girl out here.”
And he believes in religious tolerance. “I hate when I see Christians, or whatever religion it is, protesting gays and having signs that say, like, ‘God hates gays,’ ” he says. “How could He be mad at somebody for liking the same sex? I don’t get it. And it also makes me mad, because as a religious person, it makes you look bad.”
Here are the highlights:
On his failures as a single man:
That's probably been the biggest trial-and-error area of my life. And I can't say today I have it down completely. But I was fortunate. I dated a girl my first couple of years out here, and it was great. We got along great. And eventually that ended, but still today we're very cool. But it's really been trial-and-error. And there were a couple of times where I didn't get burned in the sense of, like, you know, getting money taken or anything like that, but just like, whenever it ended, it ended poorly, and then kind of got put out there a little bit. And it's just kind of an eye-opening experience. But it's hard, man. Like, there's so many... People just think about L.A. and they think, "Oh, there's so many beautiful women out here," and things of that nature. But it is so hard to find just like a decent, like straight, you know, across-the-line, just like good girl out here. And I think part of it might be because I'm used to, you know, the midwestern kind of girls, and things like that. But I honestly haven't really truly dated anybody for a while. Not in a real close sense.
On fatherhood and how it's changed him:
He's 11 months old. He'll be 1 on August first. This is what everybody says, and I didn't really get it. People were like, "Oh, it's so life-changing, it makes you think about things in a different way," and you're always like, "Oh yeah, totally." But then, when it happens, you're like, "Whoa. All those people were right!" I just feel changed, in a way. I really look forward to spending time with this little person who can't talk, can't do anything for himself besides chew and eat. [laughs]
On being the father he wants to be:
I wish I was able to be around more. The thing I hate the most is being gone for like two weeks and only seeing him on FaceTime. I missed the first time he rolled over, which isn't a huge thing, but at the time I was like, "Man." I had—not a breakdown, but I just had a moment where I was like, "This sucks!" You know, just missing stuff like that. But at the same time, it makes the stuff that I don't miss that much more special.
On Donald Sterling:
When the draft lottery came out and the Clippers said they were gonna draft me, I went to Google to find out more about the Clippers, because I didn't know a lot. And I was like, "Okay, team owned by Donald Sterling." So then I typed in "Donald Sterling" in Google, and the first thing that pops up is "Donald Sterling racist." And I was like, "Whoa!" So obviously I explored that, read a whole bunch of articles, read the deposition at one of his court cases. Which was awesome, if you ever have time to read some of the depositions
On locker room encounters with Donald Sterling:
He would bring them in the locker room. Guys would be in there. The showers are kind of elsewhere. I don't think they would really go back there. But he would bring people in the locker room while we were just in towels. One year he came in and led a "hip hip hooray" chant and held my arm up in the air. Then he went to another teammate and did the same thing. Guys just started scattering as fast as possible
On that time Donald Sterling held his hand at a party:
The second time I met him... He throws a white party in Malibu every single year, so everyone has to wear white or you can't come. I get there, and this dude is wearing all black. The only person at this party. He throws a white party, he wears all black. And as soon as I get there, he comes to the front, we talk for a second, and he's like, "Come on, I want to introduce you to everyone." Grabs my hand and starts walking me through the party while we're holding hands, and just introduces me to everybody.
On Charles Barkley being a hater (and if there is an issue between them)
Yeah. I mean, I thought we were cool, and then all of a sudden... I think the whole former-player thing, where they come and they're now analysts, it's hard, because they don't want to give it up to anybody. Unless they really, really have to. Or you have a relationship with them. And I never really had a relationship with him. To this day, I don't think I've even met him.
I'm not a big fan. [laughs] It's hard. As a kid, I was a huge fan. And then, after so many times of hearing somebody say something negative about you, then it's like, okay, this is like a thing—it's a personal thing. You know what I mean? It's like the saying "Don't meet your heroes." I haven't met him, but I don't really need to anymore. Which is unfortunate.
On religion and going to church:
I haven't (gone) in a while. But I still—I go with my brother and his wife. They have a little Bible-study thing out here. What's great about now is, growing up and being in Oklahoma, I think the idea of people who are religious is they try to shove their religion on you, and they think that that's the only way. They're very judgmental. And I try to kind of take the approach of "Whatever it is you do, cool." Like, "Don't judge me for doing what I want to do. I'm not gonna judge you for doing what you want to do." And I think that's what's cool about out here.
On growing out of certain religious teachings:
I hate when I see Christians, or whatever religion it is, protesting gays and having signs that say, like, "God hates gays." Because I've studied a lot of different religions; going to Christian school, we had a class where we would look at different religions, and we would kind of break them down and compare and contrast. And the Bible, take the Bible. So you believe in the Bible? God used women who were prostitutes, He used people that were stealers, people that were considered sinners, whatever the term may be, and He used them as His...to be examples of His teachings and things. Not make an example out of them, but actually use them. So, like, how can you say that God hates anybody?
The October issue of GQ will be available on newsstands in New York and L.A. on September 23rd and nationally September 30th.
Photos via Sebastian Kim
