After 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association, former Oklahoma basketball superstar Blake Griffin announced his retirement on Tuesday.
The former Oklahoma All-American and six-time NBA All-Star announced the retirement on social media.
With Griffin's retirement, the number of former Oklahoma Sooners actively playing in the NBA is down to three Buddy Hield (Philadelphia 76ers), Trey Young (Atlanta Hawks) and Austin Reaves (Los Angeles Lakers).
Griffin was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, selected by the Los Angeles Clippers. He played seven seasons with the Clippers. He played for four different teams in his 13 NBA seasons. In addition to the Clippers, Griffin had stints with Detroit (four seasons), Brooklyn (two seasons) and finishing his career with the Boston Celtics in 2022-23.
Fin pic.twitter.com/OCFAuAt0sl
— Blake Griffin (@blakegriffin23) April 16, 2024
Griffin posted a letter on both Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) saying, "I never envisioned myself as a guy who would have a 'letter to basketball' retirement announcement...
"I'm thankful for every single moment," he continued, "not just the good ones: the wins, the awards, the dunks and the memorable times spent with family, friends, fans, teammates and coaches...I'm equally thankful for the not-so-good moments: the losses, the injuries, the way-too-many surgeries, the lessons, the heartbreaks, and it wouldn't be a sports retirement letter without acknowledging the 'haters.'"
Griffin averaged over 20 points a game nine times in his 13 NBA seasons. For his career, he averaged 19.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. He injured his knee in the preseason and did not play his first year in the NBA. His rookie season was the following year (2010-11).
In two seasons at Oklahoma, the Oklahoma City native averaged 18.8 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. In 2009, he was named winner of both the Naismith Award and Wooden Award as College Basketball Player of the Year.
In 2016, Oklahoma retired Griffin's No. 23 jersey. His is one of five men's jerseys that are are honored and on display at Lloyd Noble Center along with No. 10 Wayman Tisdale, No. 33 Alvan Adams, No. 10 Mookie Blaylock and No. 33 Stacey King and Griffin.