Who is Blake Griffin?
Blake Austin Griffin is a basketball player. He plays as a centre for the Boston Celtics. He signed a one-year contract with them on September 30, 2022.
What is Blake Griffin Age?
Blake was born on March 16, 1989. He is now 34 years old. The professional basketball player has appeared for several top-ranked teams. He is well-known for his dunking prowess and athleticism, which has earned him accolades, several awards and All-Star selections throughout his career. He has been down with injuries throughout his career and still managed to achieve a lot. He is considered a great asset to any team.
Blake attended Christian School in his native state. During his formative years, Blake was guided by his father Tommy Griffin and helped his team win four state titles. He attended the University of Oklahoma after finishing his high school. Afterward he became a part of his college basketball team Oklahoma Sooners and was honoured with the title of Consensus National College Player of the year. Blake was chosen by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009 NBA draft.
What Happened to Blake Griffin?
Injures have always plagued Blake Griffin’s career. He has picked up injuries throughout his career, including a broken knee cap which cost him the entire season. It has immensely affected his performance. He could not make it to the team due to his knee and ankle injuries. Since then, his performance has been on the wane. After joining the Detroit Pistons, he appeared in only 37 NBA games out of 82 due to his knee injury and was sidelined for months.
He delivered dazzling performances in the next season and won the title “Rookie of the Year”. He had a seven and a half year stint with the Clippers though is yet to make it to the Western Conference finals.
Who Does Blake Griffin Play for?
Blake was the first pick for the NBA in 2009, which already had the likes of James Harden, DeMar DeRozan and Steph Curry. The player was traded to the Detroit Pistons midway through the 2017-18 NBA season. The club bought him out in the middle of the 2020-21 season. The six-time All-Star joined the Brooklyn Nets as a starter for PF (Power Forward) for the rest of the league campaigns.
He appeared in the playoffs against Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. The team handed defeat to the Boston Celtics in the first round but lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the semi-finals.
He started the season as a starter for the Nets. However, his statistics showed a decline and Blake was finally benched by Coach Steve Nash. During the 2022-23 off-season, the player became a free agent and was signed by Boston Celtics. Blake now plays for the top-tier team in the Eastern Conference. Griffin’s signing followed new acquisition Danilo Gallinari’s ACL injury that kept him out of court for a long time. Blake made 41 regular-season appearances for Celtics and has made only one post-season appearance so far. Blake wants to win his first NBA championship and fulfil his goal of achieving a championship ring.
He finished the regular season with an average of 4.1 points, 1.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds per contest. Blake played 13.9 minutes per game. The player has been used as a backup centre replacement for Robert Williams III as the latter was on recovering from his knee surgery.
Blake has been fit for the NBA playoffs. However, Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has decided not to play him in the rotation. Blake was suffering from a minor back injury in the second round game with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Does He Still Play in the NBA?
Blake Griffin made his debut for the Brooklyn Nets on March 21. He collected two rebounds and scored two points against the Wizards in his debut match. He got his first double-double (10 rebounds and 10 points) for the Nets on May 6. The club was happy and handed him a one-year extension agreement. On February 6, 2022, Blake scored 19 (highest in the season) in a match against the Denver Nuggets.
Why Is Blake Griffin Not Playing? Has He Recently Suffered Any Injury?
As of 2023, not much recent information is available on the player. However, Blake missed the first 10 games in the 2019-20 NBA season. During this period, he was recovering from his left knee surgery.
He returned to game and made 18 appearances with the Pistons. Unfortunately he underwent knee surgery for the second time on January 7, 2020. As a result, he could not play for the rest of the season. However, despite his injury, he returned at the starting of the 2020-21 season. He struggled a lot in the early phase of the season and made only 20 appearances, with his average performance close to 12.3 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game (it was his career lows).
Wrapping Up!
Blake Griffin is a famous basketball player. The extremely talented man is known for his sizzling aestheticism and dazzling show on the court. Unfortunately, he has been out for months at a stretch and intermittently due to his injury. It now looks less likely for him to achieve his goals of winning the NBA finale. In fact, his performance has dipped due to his injuries.
However, looking at the big picture, we can say that Blake Griffin could have achieved more had he not been injured so many times. We hope that he gets back to his peak form, continue to charm the basketball lovers and accomplish more in his career.
Blake’s frequent injuries are thought to have been caused by his jump-heavy style that also kept another player Williams out of the game for months. The peak of his career was plagued by injuries and it made him a shadow of his previous explosive best. He is past his prime. However, Celtic still believes in him.
