You remember the scene. If you weren’t inside downtown Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena in 2019, when the Milwaukee Bucks laid the finishing touches of a first-round sweep on the Pistons’ floor, the pure admiration and appreciation were felt through your television screen. I’m sure that you, like the thousands in attendance, stood up clapping.
With minutes left in Game 4, and Detroit waving the white flag, head coach Dwane Casey called for a substitute to spell Blake Griffin. As Griffin walked toward the bench, each step that he took was met with more emphatic claps and louder applause. Every soul rose from their seat. Griffin was exhausted. Battered. His head faced down toward the court. His left leg was held together by nylon and stitching. Griffin, a multi-time All-Star and All-NBA selection, had given everything he could to Detroit. That moment was the people’s way of paying him back.
Griffin will no longer sport a Pistons uniform. On…
