How Blake Griffin uses humor, humility to make difference with Celtics

BOSTON — Blake Griffin is no longer himself.

Sure, he still looks like an accomplished NBA veteran, but he sounds just like longtime Boston Celtics travel and equipment manager John “J.J.” Connor. More specifically, Griffin sounds just like Connor imitating Celtics assistant Matt Reynolds.

“He can do all the impressions,” Luke Kornet said of Griffin. “But J.J. is a very fun one. For the whole group, that goes great.”

Certain details are needed to understand Griffin’s inside joke with the Celtics. Shortly after the team acquired Joel Anthony in 2014, Connor said he sent Reynolds, then an intern, to ask if the big man needed help carrying bags to his car. Anthony politely declined, then received a pair of text messages later in the night. He thought they came from Reynolds, but Connor said he sent them as a prank on both the intern and the newly acquired center. First, Connor – pretending to be Reynolds – asked if Anthony wanted to go and grab a sandwich. Then, after Anthony turned down that offer, Connor followed up with what he knew would be received as a strange text.

“An hour later, I hit him again,” Connor said. “‘Joel, it’s (Reynolds) again. Do you have HBO at the hotel? There’s a great episode of “Eastbound and Down” on.’ He said, ‘Hey buddy, leave me the f–k alone.’”

Reynolds and Anthony eventually developed a good relationship, but, according to Connor, that’s not the part Griffin brings back to life. Entering character, Griffin becomes Connor trying to mess with Anthony. And when Griffin does an impression, he does it right.

“We all talk to a person for two minutes and (Griffin) can have that person down,” Kornet said. “All their little mannerisms and everything. It’s amazing. You just see his whole face transform and match whoever it is. And it’s like, wow, that is incredibly accurate. And that’s the good thing about people who do great impressions, like, you didn’t even realize this thing about them and they’ve got it down.”

Griffin throws on Connor’s thick Boston accent. He adopts Connor’s facial expressions. And, according to Connor, a native of New Bedford, Mass., Griffin consistently delivers the same punch line.

“He always says, ‘Hey buddy, you want a sandwich?’” Connor said. “That’s the impersonation he does of me.”

No matter how many times Griffin does the impression, other Celtics players eat it up.

“He just started it one day,” Kornet said, “and it’s taken off as its own thing.”

In conversations with players, coaches and staff members, all agreed Griffin has had an outsized impact on team dynamics even with fewer responsibilities on the court. The six-time NBA All-Star never knows when he’s going to play these days but sets a tone of role acceptance anyway. With all of his basketball credentials, plus a second life as a Hollywood producer, Griffin could see himself as too accomplished to fit into a team concept….