Chauncey Billups said Monday that Blake Griffin might be "too nice" and NBA opponents often take advantage of that aspect of the Los Angeles Clippers power forward's personality.

Billups, who was an on-set guest on ESPN's "First Take," was reacting to commentary on the program that Griffin is perceived as "soft" around the league.

"I don't agree that Blake Griffin is soft. But what I will say about Blake is that he's maybe too nice of a guy," Billups said. "Because there's been times in games where people take shots at Blake. And I tell him if that's me, you're going to have to take this two- or three-game suspension, and I'm going to punish somebody.

"That's just how I'm built. Blake is not really built like that. He's ... too soft of a guy inside for him to be like, 'All right, I'm just going to hurt somebody.' He just won't do it. I wish he would, and I think that people would look at him a lot different if he did that. But he's just not that kind of person."

Billups said "there's nobody that works harder" than Griffin, but the three-time All-Star would benefit if the Clippers were able to add "a veteran down low to help him ... to push him along a little faster."