Blake Griffin in GQ: 'Wasn't surprised' by Sterling recording, Barkley criticism 'is personal'

Blake Griffin is GQ's cover boy for the magazine's October issue, and the Los Angeles Clippers All-Star opened up to the magazine in a Q&A that touched on everything from Charles Barkley to some of his predictions for the coming season. 

But the most notable portions of the interview concerned former Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

Via GQ:

Were you aware of Donald Sterling's reputation then?
When the draft lottery came out and the Clippers said they were gonna draft me, I went to Google to find out more about the Clippers, because I didn't know a lot. And I was like, "Okay, team owned by Donald Sterling." So then I typed in "Donald Sterling" in Google, and the first thing that pops up is "Donald Sterling racist." And I was like, "Whoa!" So obviously I explored that, read a whole bunch of articles, read the deposition at one of his court cases. Which was awesome, if you ever have time to read some of the depositions. [laughs]

Griffin later added that he wasn't surprised by the recording that ultimately led to the owner's downfall.

Did you listen to the tape?
Oh yeah. [laughs] I listened to it like the first thing in the morning when I woke up, searched for it and listened to it from beginning to end, and then listened to the second one.

How did you feel, listening?
It was unfortunate. I mean, for me, like I said, the first thing I ever Googled about the man, the first thing that popped up was "racist." So I was aware. I hate to say this, and it might sound ignorant, but I wasn't surprised that all this came up. Not necessarily the manner in which it was said, or the exact things, but like I said: This was my first impression of him.

As for his thoughts on Barkley, Griffin says the Hall of Famer was one of his heroes growing up, but Barkley's constant criticism of him has changed things.

As a kid, I was a huge fan. And then, after so many times of hearing somebody say something negative about you, then it's like, okay, this is like a thing - it's a personal thing. You know what I mean? It's like the saying "Don't meet your heroes." I haven't met him, but I don't really need to anymore. Which is unfortunate.

Barkley has often criticized Griffin for being "soft," among other complaints.