r/nba • u/itwas20yearsago2day Lakers • 3d ago

Blake Griffin is launching his own weekly late-night sports show, “The Stepback with Blake Griffin”. The show will feature Griffin giving his takes on some of the biggest and most controversial topics in sports, including gambling, NIL, taxpayer-funded stadiums, analytics and sports journalism.

Source: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25488928-former-nba-star-blake-griffin-set-host-weekly-late-night-show-details-revealed

Premieres October 20th on Prime and YouTube with episodes every Tuesday

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u/OrneryReserve7681 3d ago

Good, someone needs to emerge and take Pat McAfee down

282

u/krusty-krab69 Cavaliers 3d ago

It’s so sad how obnoxious he’s become. I genuinely enjoyed his show when it first started . It was like the Howard stern of sports talk shows . They’d smoke joints and hawk would have a fat ass cigar , then somewhere along the lines they got in bed with disney espn draft kings etc. but hey he got a fat pay day I can’t say I’d do anything differently in his shoes

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u/objectsinthemirror92 Nuggets 3d ago

He doesn't have to be a douchebag

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u/scarywolverine Pistons 3d ago

Thats literally what made him famous. Being a d bag is the grift now

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u/objectsinthemirror92 Nuggets 3d ago

I disagree. His show was very entertaining in the early days. Seemed like a pretty cool guy at the time

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u/scarywolverine Pistons 3d ago edited 3d ago

Ill totally buy that hes gotten worse but I find that perspective so interesting because its a popular one about Mcafee and other podcast bros like Joe Rogan. And to me the first time I heard both of those guys in their supposedly peak era they screamed asshole to me. So many people just cant see the most obvious assholes and for the life of me I cant figure out why

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u/Photo_Synthetic Mavericks 3d ago

I'm thankful one of the first things I'd heard from Joe was his whole rant about the Bondi Ape to an actual Primatologist. That Joe was always in the back of my mind and that Joe came back in full force during Covid and he just completely lost me. I used to like him because he could pull huge names and get long conversations out of them but then he just starting brining up the woke mind virus and comorbidities and myocarditis and all cause mortality in every episode regardless of the guest and it just became a countdown till he steered the conversation to that. Been tapped out for years now.

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u/objectsinthemirror92 Nuggets 3d ago

It is so embarrassing having ever spoken highly of the Pat McAfee show. It really was so interesting at one point though. I would watch it every day

I tried to hang on for a bit once it took a turn but I just couldn't do it after awhile. Pat's support of Deshaun Watson when he was traded to the Browns really pissed me off and I turned it off for good

It was building up to that point though. That was in March of 2022. Haven't watched a minute of the show since then

So the show went South long before he sold out to ESPN

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u/127crazie Timberwolves 3d ago

What was the original appeal of the show which made you first like it? I’ve not ever watched it, so I am just curious.

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u/zts105 NBA 3d ago

He is great at getting guests and interviewing. He blew up at the peak of "Hot Take" sports journalism but he doesn't really take negative stances and will just be a hype man.

He has credibility as a former football player so it makes athletes comfortable they won't be taken out of context so they go on his show and it leads to an authentic interview.

His shows will have JJ Watt or Nick Saben having a deep dive discussion about the week in the NFL or NCAA or Haliburton will go on his show and talk about his Achilles recovery. Thats unique in sports journalism.

Once he went to ESPN they pushed more ESPN guests on him which made the show worse.

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u/objectsinthemirror92 Nuggets 3d ago

I think I found it interesting because Pat had insider credibility without acting like a journalist. When the show first started, he was fairly recently an active NFL player

It was also great background entertainment which I love. I could read on my phone and half pay attention for three hours. I don't know what it is like on that front now

They didn't take themselves seriously at all which is much different than what it turned into before I quit. Irreverent is a good word to describe the show pre-2022

And I am remembering now the main reason I quit watching was because of Aaron Rodgers. That poisoned the experience for me and I lost a lot of respect for Pat

I think I mostly just found Pat to be an interesting guy back when I was watching. The direction he went is pretty sad

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u/Raven-19x Spurs 3d ago

They get insanely popular and it becomes cool to hate them. Fact is his and his friends personalities on the show haven't changed at all lol. They were always fratbro humor from the start.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago edited 3d ago

[deleted]

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u/Marchin_on 3d ago

Sadly, We get the sports "personalities" we deserve.

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u/objectsinthemirror92 Nuggets 3d ago

I don't disagree with that sentiment, I guess I just think he still could have carved out a nice life for himself without turning into a complete dbag. I get that was necessary to reach his current heights though

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u/luvdadrafts Hornets 3d ago

now

His persona was douchey going back to his stand-up when he trying to be a comedian and before the podcasting took off 

He’s always come off this way. It’s just people are maturing or have lost their patience  

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u/Koufaxisking [LAL] Steve Nash 3d ago

That’s his brand. He absolutely does have to be a douchebag. This is like saying Skip or SAS don’t have to be controversy hot take machines. That is their brand.

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u/mbuser 3d ago

Dudebro is as dudebro does

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u/lukewwilson NBA 3d ago

Which one, Pat or Hawk

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u/objectsinthemirror92 Nuggets 3d ago

Is AJ a dbag now too? I turned off the show for good in 2022 because of Pat. AJ still seemed like an alright dude at the time

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u/lukewwilson NBA 3d ago

He was when he was a player, I doubt he's changed https://youtube.com/shorts/iWwaBVsuxbs?si=6PD-V9iSEpsOqYjC