Blake Griffin’s new Los Angeles home, not far from the ocean, is big and white and mostly still empty, though he moved almost a year ago. There are empty bos of Jordans in the garage, a mouth guard out on a marble countertop, and twin servings of sea bass on the dining-room table where we first sit down to talk. The house, he says, was mostly finished when he found it, though he’s had a few alterations made. "Downstairs there was gonna be a wine cellar, but we made it into a big trophy-case room." He pauses for a moment, and together we contemplate wine and winning. "There’s a metaphor there somewhere," he says.

A few weeks ago, he was in Croatia. "We went to Dubrovnik, which is—do you watch Game of Thrones at all? That’s King’s Landing." Griffin binge-watched the show in "like seven days" after his team, the Los Angeles Clippers, were bounced out of the playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder. He went a little crazy, watching them so fast. "It was dangerous. [laughs] It was bad."

It was also a welcome distraction from a long and difficult spring dominated by the racist meltdown of his team’s then owner, Donald Sterling. Sterling’s TMZ tirade and the team’s subsequent loss to the Thunder were the two discordant notes in an otherwise memorable year for Griffin. He has not missed an All-Star Game in the four seasons he’s played. He might already be the most gifted comic actor ever to suit up in an NBA uniform—a commercial-break mainstay who also has the respect of actual professional funny people like Chappelle’s Show co-creator Neal Brennan, who sends him scripts to punch up. And last August, he became a father.

Which is partially why he moved, actually—to find a house with a pool for his son to swim in. His backyard is large and quiet, and eventually we end up out there, sitting at a picnic table, enjoying the sun, and reflecting on the luck—both good and bad—that landed him here in the first place.

In retrospect, this Clippers thing really worked out for you, locale-wise.

** **Absolutely. And it’s funny, because when the Clippers had the first pick and they announced that they were gonna draft me, everybody was like, "Uh, you probably should ask not to get drafted. Try to go somewhere else." And I was like, "You know what? Let’s just see." And honestly, it wasn’t even about L.A., because I hadn’t been to L.A. at the time. I thought, "Okay, whatever, Beverly Hills Cop." All I wanted to do was play basketball.

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]

I’ve only seen the highlights.

** **Did you see the one where he’s talking about being in the back of the limo? You gotta just type in "Donald Sterling deposition." _[Later I do, and this is what comes up, from a 2003 suit, regarding a sexual companion: __"Well, I fool around sometimes. I do. When a girl seduces me and tells me how much she wants to suck on me and take my shoes off and licks my feet and touches me. When I’m in a limousine, she takes off all her clothes. The limo driver said, ’What is going on?’ And she started sucking me on the way to Mr. Koon’s house. And I thank her. I thank her for making me feel good."] _I’ll let you read it, because I don’t want to do it—I don’t want to do it injustice. And then, at the very end...just read it. [The response: "Sir, the question was, is this your handwriting?"] So I was aware, but not until right before I got drafted.