On Tuesday morning, Blake Griffin, the first pick in the 2009 NBA Draft by the LA Clippers, announced his retirement from the NBA after 13 seasons.
While there have been better players to suit up for the franchise before, during and after Griffin’s tenure, there is an argument to be made that Griffin, who showed immediately how gifted he was after making his NBA debut in the 2010-11 season as a Slam Dunk Champion, an NBA All-Star and Rookie of the Year, is one of the most important figures in the franchise’s history.
“Blake is just one of the most dynamic players we’ve seen in this league for a long time as far as athletic-wise,” said Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, who was an assistant under Doc Rivers during Griffin’s best season in 2013-14. “And then one thing he doesn’t get credit for is his passing ability. The way he can pass the basketball at the four position and then as he got older, he plays the small-ball five and improved his 3-point shooting as well. And so he had a great career and injuries are a big part of it that kind of slowed him down the stretch.
“But just for Blake, who’s a big part of the turnaround here with the Clippers: him, CP (Chris Paul) and DeAndre (Jordan), then you bring in JJ Redick and Jamal (Crawford). They’ve played a huge part in the turnaround of the Clippers organization, when they got to the playoffs, 50-win seasons.”
But Griffin’s Lob City postseasons with the Clippers never resulted in a conference finals appearance. The last time Griffin and Paul played in the playoffs together was in 2017, when both faced offseason contract decisions. The Clippers were the fourth seed in the Western Conference, and Griffin suffered a season-ending injury to his right big toe in Game 3 in Utah. The Clippers lost Game 7 of that series. Paul picked up the final year of his option as a condition for getting traded to James Harden’s Houston Rockets.
Griffin was awarded a multi-year maximum contract with the Clippers in the 2017 offseason, believing he would be with the franchise for the rest of his relevant career. But the Clippers traded him the following January to the Detroit Pistons as part of a short-term reloading plan. Two years after Griffin signed his final contract with the Clippers, the franchise introduced Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
The Clippers are no longer the franchise they were when Griffin arrived. When Griffin missed his rookie season in 2009-10 due to a broken left kneecap suffered after a preseason dunk, many scoffed at the cursed franchise ruining the fortunes of another college star. Donald Sterling was the owner of the team until 2014, when new commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life in the middle of the playoffs. The Clippers made four postseason appearances in their first 33 years in Southern California, winning a total of one series.
The Clippers are set to enter Intuit Dome next season in Inglewood, Calif. It is Steve Ballmer’s greatest accomplishment in 10 seasons as the chief steward of the Clippers. But who will join Ballmer inside the team’s new home is still uncertain.
We know Leonard will be there. The two-time NBA Finals MVP signed the first in-season contract extension of his career in January, solidifying his status as the face of the Clippers. His three-year deal runs through the 2026-27 season. Less certain as the postseason begins? Leonard’s availability. He returned to All-Star status this season for the first time since his 2021 ACL tear, compiling career-highs in field goal percentage (52.5), minutes per game (34.3) and even total dunks (76) while playing his most games (68) since 2017.
But Leonard did not play the final two weeks of the regular season due to what the team called right knee inflammation. While it was encouraging the Clippers went on a four-game winning streak this month to clinch the No. 4 seed out West without him, Leonard’s obfuscatory status underscores the top concern the Clippers have now…
This article was originally published by a theathletic.com . Read the Original article here. .