The NBA star is launching a new podcast about well-being called 'The Pursuit of Healthiness.'
Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons didn't make the cut to travel to Orlando for the modified second half of the NBA season, but he can't wait to watch how things play out. "I think guys are just excited to play basketball again, and I'm excited to watch," the Pistons power forward tells ET's Deidre Behar.
Just like all fans, Griffin admits he's curious to know about life in the league's coronavirus "bubble" -- where teams are sequestered at Disney hotels for the remainder of the regular season games and upcoming playoffs to prevent the spread of the pandemic among players and their families -- but notes, "I'm trying not to pester these guys too much, because I'm sure everybody wants to know how the bubble is and is asking them the same questions, but [they're] also trying to concentrate on their season."
As for other issues facing the restarting NBA season -- like a reignited conversation surrounding social justice initiatives and protests during the national anthem -- Griffin thinks the decision should be made internally.
"I think however guys wanna express their support should be OK," he notes. "I think one thing that basketball really did [well] -- because we saw it happen with football first, and our season started a little later, back when this was sort of a bigger topic -- was teams wanted to do something together, and I think that's really powerful too."
The six-time All-Star says he's "really proud" of the way the league has supported players who spoke up in various ways in the past -- with Black Lives Matter messages on their warm-up gear or team-wide demonstrations, like linking arms during the anthem -- and is encouraged about the future. "I think the NBA does a really good job of sort of leading that charge, and they've done a great job of giving players a voice, so I'm interested to see what guys do."
As for himself, Griffin says he'd want to "have a team discussion about it and [do] whatever we decided as a team."
"I remember that being how we did it a couple years ago," he recalls. "Everybody's having the same discussion right now, so I think coming together as a group with your teammates is a very powerful thing."
For now, Griffin is keeping busy off the court with a new project, a podcast about personal well-being called The Pursuit of Healthiness.
"I've always been very interested in health and wellness, even as a kid my mom was a very, very healthy person, and was always reading nutritionists' books," he says of how the project came to be. "I was a health and exercise science major in college, and when I got to the NBA, I would just always pick the brains of our trainers and doctors and whoever was sort of leading that for us -- and those would always make the most interesting conversations."
"I really love having conversations about it, so I was like, if I'm gonna have a podcast, why not really interview people who I really want to find out some information from?" Griffin adds. "Also, it's sort of a daunting world in general. Unless you truly understand it, I think, there can be a lot of misinformation out there. So hopefully this sort of bridges that gap a little bit and then it doesn't seem so intimidating for some people who watch or listen to this. Ultimately I hope people walk away a better version of themselves."
His dream guest for the podcast? Someone who's frequently used their own platform to spotlight all kinds of health and wellness causes.
"I think Michelle Obama and all her work -- everything health related and providing healthcare, the whole nutrition side and making more nutritious food readily available to all families of all classes is really cool," he notes. "There's tons of people doing awesome stuff, but she is the GOAT... We're working on it."
All 10 episodes of The Pursuit of Healthiness with Blake Griffin will debut exclusively on Audible on August 4.
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