Boston Celtics: Did Blake Griffin take shot at Nets locker room with Cs praise?

Blake Griffin is excited to be a member of the Boston Celtics after forging a relationship with President of Basketball Operations and former head coach Brad Stevens as his Detroit Pistons tenure was coming to an end in 2020.

At the time, Griffin was told by a veteran member of the team yet to be named that he should avoid the Cs due to locker room strife. Following an Eastern Conference championship run in 2022, the former No. 1 overall pick could no longer resist.

That relationship with Stevens helped bring Blake to Boston, and since arriving, Griffin has been nothing but completely complimentary of the organizational culture — perhaps at the expense of other locker rooms he has been a part of.

This is what Griffin said during his first Boston Celtics media scrum on October 3, seemingly taking a shot at his old team, the Brooklyn Nets:

"“I’ve talked to pretty much everybody. I was talking to some guys (Sunday). … I’m actually very — not surprised, but the amount of maturity and welcomingness (that the Celtics’ players showed) … it’s a different atmosphere than I was sort of used to, in a good way.”“They were very welcoming: everybody, one through 15. Practice today was focused, very encouraging, helpful. I think you kind of take that for granted because it’s not always the case everywhere you go.”"

Did recent Boston Celtics signee Blake Griffin take a shot at the Nets?

It’s very easy to read these comments by Blake Griffin and assume that he was talking about the Brooklyn Nets. Griffin spent the last two seasons in Kings County, New York, and was part of one of the more polarizing teams in recent memory this past season.

Between Kyrie Irving’s part-time player status relating to his refusal to the COVID-19 vaccination, James Harden’s trade demand, Ben Simmons’ refusal to play upon landing in Brooklyn, Irving’s trade demand in the offseason, and Kevin Durant’s subsequent trade demand — that’s 3 trade demands for those keeping score at home — the Nets were a toxic situation from the top down in 2021-22.

Perhaps Griffin was also taking a shot at the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers too, since he did say he hasn’t been used to the cohesion in the Boston Celtics locker room. Still, recent history is likely what he was referring to, making this a somewhat clear shot at Joe Tsai’s NYC franchise.