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Oklahoma Basketball Legend Blake Griffin Retires from NBA

The Sooners' 2009 national player of the year had a stellar 15-year professional career with four teams.

John E. Hoover

Blake Griffin in Detroit
Blake Griffin in Detroit / Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
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Blake Griffin, a basketball legend at Oklahoma and one of the most decorated Sooners in history, has retired from the NBA.

Griffin announced his retirement on Tuesday morning via Instagram.

At OU, Griffin was national player of the year as a sophomore in 2008-09, when he won the Naismith College Player of the Year, NABC Player of the Year, AP National Player of the Year, the John Wooden Award, the Adolph Rupp Trophy, the Oscar Robertson Trophy, and Sports Illustrated and Sporting News Player of the Year.

As a sophomore, Griffin averaged 22.7 points and 14.4 rebounds per game while shooting 59 percent from the floor and also averaging 2.3 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks.

As a true freshman in 2007-08, Griffin averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds for the Sooners.

Griffin, who led Oklahoma Christian School to four straight state championships alongside older brother Taylor, was the No. 1 overall pick and  played 13 seasons in the NBA, where he was a six-time NBA All-Star, the 2011 Rookie of the Year, a three-time second-team All-NBA and two-time third-team All-NBA.

His final season in the league was last year, when he played for the Boston Celtics. 

Griffin also won the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, famously jumping over a car on the court.

Griffin played in 765 games during his NBA career and averaged 19.4 points and 8.0 rebounds. His most prolific offensive season was 2018-19 with Detroit, when he scored 24.5 points. IN 2013-14 with the LA Clipper, Griffin averaged 24.1 points per game. 

He averaged a double-double as a rookie in 2010-11, 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. He also averaged a double-double in year two, 20.7 points and 10.9 rebounds, while shooting a career-best .549 from the field.

Griffin’s physical style of play meant he missed a lot of games due to injury. His only season playing also 82 games was his rookie year with the Clippers.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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