After 13 seasons, veteran forward Blake Griffin declared his retirement from the NBA on Tuesday. In an Instagram post announcing his choice, Griffin expressed gratitude for a lengthy and fruitful career.
Griffin played only one NBA season (2022–2023) and with the Boston Celtics, where he was a member of a great and deep group but did not play a major part. Griffin played in 41 games, 16 of which were starts, and averaged 13.9 minutes per game, 4.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists—all career lows.
Blake Griffin’s journey in NBA
After missing his intended rookie season due to a knee injury, the 35-year-old Griffin—who was selected with the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft out of Oklahoma—quickly established himself as one of the league’s best players, taking home the 2010–11 NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
Averaging 21.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game over his first five NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, Griffin was chosen an All-Star each time.
Prior to being traded to the Detroit Pistons, where he first had some success, Griffin would play in portions of three more seasons with the Clippers.
Blake Griffin with LeBron James
As a member of the Pistons in 2018–19, Griffin was selected for his sixth and final All-Star team. He also had one of his finest statistical seasons to date, averaging 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 2.5 made three-pointers per game.
From then on, though, injuries took a toll on Griffin, who was only able to play in 18 games in 2019–20 before the Pistons cut him during the 2020–21 campaign.
Griffin signed a one-year contract with the C’s prior to the 2022–2023 season, having played portions of two seasons with the Brooklyn Nets, mostly as a backup.
Griffin was unsigned in the offseason following his minimal involvement the previous season, and he failed to sign with a new team in 2023–24. Despite injuries making the second half of Griffin’s career less successful than the first, he was still quite successful overall, averaging 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in 765 regular-season games.
