Blake Griffin used to bully rim protectors inside the paint.
Now he’s going to fire shots from the outside.
The former Clipper and Pistons All-Star is launching a weekly late-night show on Prime Video and YouTube produced with Amazon’s Wondery. Titled The Stepback with Blake Griffin,it features the host sitting behind a desk chronicling and opining on the juiciest sports topics of our time — think John Oliver, but for all things athletic.
“He’s asking questions insiders won’t,” an upcoming trailer notes.
Among the topics on the docket are gambling, NIL, taxpayer-funded stadiums, pot use, analytics and the state of sports journalism.
A planned press release notes that, “Drawing on his unique lens as a veteran player, sports dad, and lifelong superfan, Griffin breaks down the biggest topics in sports for a live studio audience — delivering a smart blend of late-night comedy and cultural analysis.”
All live-studio episodes of The Stepback have been recorded and are currently in post, with the first one dropping October 20 to coincide with the start of the NBA season. A new episode will follow every Tuesday. There will generally not be guests on the show, with the heat coming from Griffin’s own commentary.
Griffin says that he is taking his cues from the topical comedy that has become a must-watch for general-interest viewers over the past two decades. “I’ve watched and idolized shows like The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight, so to follow in their footsteps while putting my own stamp on the genre is an amazing opportunity that I’m grateful to take part in,” he notes.
Despite a dizzying number of podcasts, the sports world lacks wry, newsy video chats of true depth, at least since Around the Horn went off the air. And a late-night-style sports show is an almost entirely new subgenre.
Griffin has been a presence on television for years, including on the studio show NBA on Prime and a host of non-basketball broadcasts, with acting stints on Broad City and Whitney Cummings’ The Female Brain and as host of a hidden-camera show on TruTV. The 37-year-old has also honed his standup chops at Just for Laughs and at various live venues. His screen appeal combines a mix of swagger and self-deprecating, and at times evokes (a taller) Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Griffin’s Mortal Media production banner, formed with ex-NFL offensive lineman Ryan Kalil, has been behind a number of high-profile streaming projects including Hulu’s White Men Can’t Jump reboot and Apple TV+’s sci-fi-ish Hello Tomorrow!. The company earlier this month debuted We Are Osos, a docuseriesabout Mexican (American) football centering on the Monterrey club that Griffin, Kalil, George Kittle and others own.
Wondery is no stranger to sports podcasts with broader cultural appeal. The Amazon division is behind New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce and The Lead, Tiffany Oshinsky and Anders Kelto’s take on the sport stories of the day.
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