In an Instagram post on Tuesday morning, 14-year NBA veteran Blake Griffin announced his retirement. While he was in the league for 14 years, he played 13 because of a knee injury that sidelined him for his rookie season.
Griffin was drafted number one overall in 2009 after winning National College Player of the After his missed rookie season, he returned for year two and hit the ground running, averaging 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists and winning the Rookie of the Year award. He shot 51 percent for his rookie campaign and went on to average 49 percent shooting over his career.
From 2010-2015, Griffin made five consecutive all-star appearances. As a Clipper, he was part of teams that went to the playoffs six straight seasons, including a 57-25 season in 2013-2014. That year, the Clippers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 4-2 in the Western Conference Semifinals. The next year, the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead to the underdog Houston Rockets in the first round.
Griffin’s best season as a Clipper came in 2013-2014, when the then 24-year-old averaged 24.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists on 53 percent shooting. That year, he became just the third player in history to record 6,000 points, 3,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists while shooting 50 percent over the course of his first four seasons. He joined Kareem Abdul-Jabber and Charles Barkley in that category. His 2015 postseason was extraordinary, as he averaged 25.5 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 6.1 assists on 51 percent shooting from the field over a 14-game stretch. At the time, he was the only player to average at least 25 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists in a single postseason. Since, Nikola Jokic has joined him in that category. They are the only two players in league history to accomplish that feat.
Primarily an interior scorer and dunker early on in his career with no shortage of highlight plays, Griffin improved his jump shot as his career progressed and was always an adept ball handler. After a January 2018 trade to the Detroit Pistons, Griffin enjoyed a resurgence in what was maybe his best season as a pro in 2018-2019. Making the all-star team for the sixth and final time, Griffin averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.4 assists, guiding the Pistons to the eight seed in the Eastern Conference. He also scored a career-high 50 points in a game that season, on October 23, 2018 against the Philadelphia 76ers. Despite his prior injuries, Griffin displayed his playmaking ability as a passer and his well-rounded offensive game, becoming an extremely viable threat from 18-feet and beyond.
Griffin would be hampered by injury problems for the remainder of his career, playing minimal minutes, relegated to the bench and becoming more of a locker room leader while with the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics. Over his entire career, the Oklahoma City, OK native averaged 19 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. He amassed 14,513 points in his 13 seasons of play.
At one time, he was certainly among, if not the best, power forwards in the league. Being able to make another all-star team at age 29 after the injuries that he had as a Clipper was one of the more impressive resurgences that you will see. He was able to reinvent his game post-injury, showcase his true skills, and have arguably his best season.
In addition to six all-star appearances, Griffin was three times an All-NBA second team member (2012-2014) and made All-NBA third team in 2015 and 2019.
Griffin has a case for the Hall of Fame and should receive consideration upon his first year of eligibility in 2027.
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