Blake Griffin Announced His Retirement from NBA With ‘Thankful’ Message About His Career

The six-time All-Star is calling it a career after 14 years.
Blake Griffin
Blake Griffin / Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

After a high-flying 14-year career, Blake Griffin is hanging up the sneakers.

The six-time All-Star announced the news on Tuesday via his personal social media accounts, along with a statement expressing gratitude for his career. Griffin most recently played for the Boston Celtics in 2022-23 and spent the 2023-24 season as a free agent.

Griffin will go down as one of the game's greatest dunkers, both in-game and otherwise. He dunked over anybody and everybody for the better part of a decade, starting in 2010 when he made his NBA debut. His legacy is etched in stone as the cornerstone of the Lob City Clippers that lit up the basketball world for a few years in the mid-2010s, and nobody will forget when he jumped over a Kia to win the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest.

While his highlights became less exciting as his athleticism waned, Griffin's late-career basketball may be his finest. After knee surgeries sapped his insane vertical, the All-NBA forward became an excellent all-around player. He was a great passer and low post scorer. He even developed a jumpshot, something nobody thought he would ever need after many years of work in the paint.

Griffin finishes his career averaging 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game. He played for the Clippers, Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, and Boston Celtics. He'll forever be remembered as one of the best dunkers the world has ever seen.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.