Blake Griffin quickly became known for his high flying dunks and over his first four campaigns he had 784 dunks, the most in the NBA over that span. announced his retirement from the NBA on Tuesday at age 35. Not counting his first season as a pro, which he missed because of injury, Griffin played 13 seasons in the league and made six All-Star teams and five All-NBA appearances.
Some thirteen years later, Griffin remains the last player chosen to an All-Star team as a rookie, and the only one selected by coaches as a reserve this century. Griffin accomplished that largely thanks to his rim-rattling finishes. His 214 dunks as a rookie ranked second behind Dwight HowardThen came additional injuries. After playing all but four games over his first four seasons, Griffin played no more than 67 from 2014-15 through 2017-18.
Instead, the promise Griffin showed as a rookie helped convince the Clippers to make a bold trade for Paul ahead of the following season, and their partnership was surely a key factor in Paul re-signing with the Clippers as an unrestricted free agent in 2013. Griffin re-signing on a max deal in the summer of 2017 after Paul's departure for Houston via sign-and-trade also indirectly paved the way for the current Clippers run. Seven months after convincing Griffin to return with a ceremony that included a mock jersey retirement, the Clippers traded him to Detroit in a move that was as unsentimental as it was prescient.
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