Six-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin retires at age 35

Blake Griffin (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

According to Alex Butler of Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday, six-time National Basketball Association All-Star Blake Griffin of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma retired at the age of 35. Griffin played eight seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers (2010 to 2018), four seasons with the Detroit Pistons (2018 to 2021), two seasons with the Brooklyn Nets (2021 to 2022), and one season with the Boston Celtics (2022 to 2023). He did not play this past season.

Griffin played 765 NBA regular season games. He averaged 19 points per game, eight rebounds per game, and four assists per game. Griffin also had a field goal percentage of .493, three-point percentage of .328, and field goal percentage of .696.

Griffin was the first overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft out of the University of Oklahoma. The power forward did not play in 2009-10 because of a knee injury. However the following year when Griffin came on the court, he had an immediate impact. He averaged a double-double (22.5 points per game and 12.1 rebounds per game) with the Clippers, and was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year.

Also in 2010-11. Griffin was selected to his first of five consecutive NBA All-Star Games representing the Clippers. He also represented the Pistons in the 2019 NBA All-Star Game.

Griffin also had a memorable career at the collegiate level with the Sooners. Griffin was the National College Player of the Year in 2009. The University of Oklahoma became the first school ever to have the best player in college basketball and college football in the same year as Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy. Griffin also led the NCAA in rebounds in 2008-09 with 504.