CHICAGO – You get to middle age, teetering on the verge of grizzled veteran, in the blink of an eye in professional sports. Seems like yesterday rookie Blake Griffin was taking the NBA by storm and jumping over cars and now, here he is, the guy everyone on the Pistons looks to in the lonely moments when games are won or lost – or before and after games and all the other instances when a team’s identity takes shape.
The superman aura Griffin once projected has been dulled by the taint of injury, Adonis revealing an Achilles heel as big chunks of time were lost, and now he’s holding every moment close to his heart.