Blake Griffin’s book list triggers a sharper performance for Clippers

Tired of the short story that has been the Clippers’ recent playoff history, Blake Griffin immersed himself this summer in something that could spark a different narrative.

He became a voracious reader.

The All-Star power forward devoured the words of former NFL coach Tony Dungy, leadership expert John C. Maxwell and the Navy SEALs after the elite military unit had triggered his interest by speaking to Griffin and his teammates.

There were lessons in mentorship and getting along with others that Griffin hopes to carry with him all the way into June after his first five NBA seasons ended well short of a trip to the NBA Finals.

“We know how not to win a championship,� Griffin said Thursday night, “and each year we’ve been unsuccessful, you should learn from that. I think we have learned a lot from that, so we know what losing teams do.�

Griffin said he and fellow Clippers stars Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan are taking a different approach in which “We’re not going to let things slide this year. If we see something, we say something. Whether it’s practice, shoot-around, games, we know the difference� between good and bad habits. “So we’re not going to allow our teammates and ourselves, really first, to fall into that.�

Griffin has provided a template for his teammates on how to win games and influence people during season-opening victories over the Sacramento Kings and the Dallas Mavericks. He has averaged 29.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in those wins while shooting 67.6%. He elicited “MVP!� chants during the Clippers’ 104-88 triumph over the Mavericks on Thursday.

Part of Griffin’s early success has been increased confidence in the midrange jump shots that became a staple of his game last season. He has made four of 10 shots (40%) from 15 to 19 feet and five of eight shots (62.5%) from 20 to 24 feet.

“Last year, it was that he worked on it and he was shooting it,� Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said of Griffin’s jump shots. “This year, he just shoots it. It’s part of his game now, which is nice.�

Another component of Griffin’s development has been a more businesslike demeanor that appears to have rubbed off on Jordan, the former team goofball.

“He’s still fun and having fun,� Rivers said of Griffin, “but he’s deadly serious, locked in defensively and just talking more. I just like where he’s at.�

Each member of the Clippers’ star threesome says they are talking more than they ever have, part of the natural progression of entering their fifth season together and having repeatedly fallen short of their championship goal.

“Going home early May, mid-May, that’s definitely been frustrating for us,� Jordan said. “There’s things that we didn’t do, things that we did too much of the past years and we all talked about it a lot this summer and in the preseason and during training camp. We’ve got to do stuff different if we want different results.�

Reading on the way to games and in hotel rooms has been a big change for Griffin, who was hardly a bookworm before this summer. He said Clippers assistant Lawrence Frank and former USC coach George Raveling have accelerated his love of books by giving him new material to read.

“I’ve tried to keep myself thinking on a high level and not just with workouts, taking care of my body, [but] kind of educating myself on a lot of different things,� Griffin said. “Leadership-wise, how I carry myself every day, I think I tried to make a little bit of a difference, a change.�

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Twitter: @latbbolch