David Griffin wants people to know he maintains a "positive relationship" with LeBron James.
Griffin received scrutiny after comments regarding the Lakers and former Cavaliers star were published in a recent Sports Illustrated story. Griffin — who spent nearly a decade as an executive in Cleveland's organization before joining the Pelicans' franchise — said he was "miserable" during his time with the Cavaliers.
His comments "shocked" James, according to an ESPN report.
Griffin then admitted he didn't frame his response well on ESPN's The Jump.
"The fact that there was so much scrutiny in everything that we did, when I was speaking about being uncomfortable and being miserable, it was my inability to deal with that media scrutiny," Griffin said Friday. "It wasn't the man himself. It was everything that came with a team led by LeBron James. It had nothing to do with being miserable with LeBron. We had and have a very positive relationship."
David Griffin joined The Jump to clarify his comments on LeBron losing his hunger to win: pic.twitter.com/MZv7eELvw1
— ESPN (@espn) August 2, 2019
Griffin thought the article was going to focus on New Orleans as he helped rebuild the roster by sending Anthony Davis to the Lakers in exchange for Josh Hart, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and three first-round picks as well as the addition of Derrick Favors and JJ Redick and former Duke star Zion Williamson with the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft.
He said the quotes in Sport Illustrated's story were "sensationalized" and "taken out of context."