Chauncey Billups told ESPN's First Take on Monday that Blake Griffin might be "too nice" and NBA opponents often take advantage of that aspect of the Los Angeles Clippers power forward's personality. Billups, Griffin's Los Angeles Clippers teammate, was reacting to commentary on the program that Griffin is perceived as "soft" around the league.
"I don't agree that Blake Griffin is soft. But what I will say about Blake is that he's maybe too nice of a guy," Billups said. "Because there's been times in games where people take shots at Blake. And I tell him if that's me, you're going to have to take this two- or three-game suspension, and I'm going to punish somebody.
"That's just how I'm built. Blake is not really built like that. He's ... too soft of a guy inside for him to be like, 'All right, I'm just going to hurt somebody.' He just won't do it. I wish he would, and I think that people would look at him a lot different if he did that. But he's just not that kind of person."
Billups said "there's nobody that works harder" than Griffin, but the young All-Star forward would benefit if the Clippers were able to add "a veteran down low to help him...to push him along a little faster."
Billups, 36, will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, said he wants to play "a couple more years."
He was limited by a ruptured Achilles tendon which allowed him to play in just 20 games during the 2011-12 season. He played in just 22 games this season as he came back from the Achilles injury and dealt with various other injuries, but he said Thursday, "I feel like I'm back healthy again."
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