Clippers' disrespectful break up with Blake Griffin

Many Los Angeles Clippers fans will attest that Blake Griffin—the highly anticipated first pick of the 2009 draft who played a pivotal role in drawing eyeballs and generating buzz in a city where most basketball attention goes to the Lakers—remains the greatest player in franchise history.

Griffin was seen as a generational talent from a young age because of his phenomenal athletic prowess and scoring ability.

Like no other player before him, he gave Clippers Nation hope and identity. Blake was the main anchor of the Lob City Clippers, the franchise's most iconic era. This era featured the Blakeshow alongside Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan and an unusual offense that revolved around breathtaking alley-oops.

However, Lob City Clippers' success was limited to the regular season, as it faced continuous early exits in the playoffs. Ultimately, the band had to be broken. According to Griffin, it was not done in the most respectful ways.

Forgiven but not forgotten

Viewed as the face of the franchise from his first year in the league, Griffin was a big draw for the fans, with the Clippers being a huge beneficiary of it. The six-time All-Star lived up to all the hype around him, becoming a regular highlight reel, courtesy of his rim-shattering dunks and scoring.

Sadly, the 2011 Dunk Contest Winner could not win at crucial postseason junctures. In his 51 playoff games as a Clipper, Griffin had a losing record of 23-28, never making it past the second round.

There finally came a point where the management had to make some tough calls, given the year-after-year postseason disappointments. The way they did it rubbed Griffin the wrong way.

After he spent eight years with the franchise, the Clippers traded Griffin to the Pistons as part of the LA front office's plan to enter a rebuilding phase. What caught Griffin and many others off-guard was that this trade was executed a little over six months after Griffin signed a massive five-year contract with the Ballmer organization.

"At the end of the day, the only thing that I wish happened differently was I wish they had given me the same respect like some teams give to guys when they say, 'hey, we're gonna go in a different direction," ' Griffin said in 2019 .

Earlier that season, the parties had mutually decided on Griffin taking over the team's reins. Therefore, the abrupt change in dynamics had the 6-foot-9 forward rightfully taken aback.

Griffin's jersey retired in Intuit Dome?

Kicking off a new chapter in their franchise, in which the Clippers will no longer play co-hosts with the Lakers, is an opportunity for the franchise to engage its living legends.

With the lesser-popular LA team now having its own home arena, the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, inviting Griffin and other Clipper greats to sit courtside at games would be a nice gesture.

If the Clippers really want to make things right with Griffin for the messy breakup, they could consider giving him the honor of being the first player whose jersey is retired in the Intuit Dome.

Related: Intuit Dome may be a double-edged sword for Clippers