Is Blake Griffin Hall of Fame worthy?
Clippers legend Blake Griffin has announced his retirement after a long and notable career (photo courtesy of Harry How/Getty Images).
Longtime big-man Blake Griffin retired from the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Wednesday, Apr. 16. Griffin had a 13-year career in which he played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, and the Boston Celtics. Griffin is among the many current NBA stars who are very talented players but have never won a ring. Naturally, the basketball community has raised the question; should Blake Griffin be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame?
Before getting into detail about Blake Griffin's career, it is important to note that the NBA’s Hall of Fame is much different than that of many other American sports. The NBA doesn’t have its own Hall of Fame, instead, NBA players are inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which makes it slightly easier to be inducted into.
In terms of accolades and accomplishments, Blake Griffin started his career off very strong. In Blake Griffin’s first five years in the NBA, he won the Rookie of the Year award, finished top-ten in the Most Valuable Player voting three times, was a three-time All-NBA Second Team member, a one-time All-NBA Third Team member, and was an All-Star in each of those five seasons. It all started very well for Griffin, however many problems, such as injuries, piled up and it took him four more years to win his next award. Griffin was named an All-Star and a member of the All-NBA Third Team as a member of the Detroit Pistons, but would never win another award after that season.
Griffin and the Clippers made the playoffs in every season he was on the team, aside from his rookie year. With the exception of the shortened 2011-2012 NBA season, the Clippers won 50-plus games for five straight years due in part to Griffin’s stellar play. This unfortunately led to nothing, however, as the Clippers would lose in the first round of the playoffs three times as well as in the second round on three other occasions.
Griffin was eventually traded halfway through the 2017-2018 NBA season to the Pistons. Although he didn’t struggle when he first got to Detroit, it was the following season when Griffin settled into his new home. Griffin averaged a career-high 24.5 points per game in the 2018-2019 season and played 75 games for the first time in five years. Similar to his Clippers tenure, he had a great regular season but had it rough go in the playoffs as the Pistons were eliminated in the first round.
Detroit made the playoffs three times after his stay, but there should be an asterisk next to those appearances. Griffin only started in 50 of the 123 games he played in during this span of his career, so he was more of a bench player at this point. In the first two years of this span, he was a part of the Brooklyn Nets where they lost in the second round of the playoffs in 2021 and in the first round the following year. In the final year of his NBA career, this past season, he was a part of the Boston Celtics who lost in the Eastern Conference finals.
In all, Blake Griffin was a six-time All-Star, a five-time All-NBA member, the 2010-2011 Rookie of the Year, and made it to the playoffs ten times over his 13-year career. Griffin averaged 19 points and eight rebounds per game, including averaging 20 points per game or more in eight separate seasons.
The question still stands, though, “Is Blake Griffin a Hall of Fame worthy?” Griffin has two big things going for him: his incredible dunking ability and a great resume in terms of scoring. In my opinion, dunking isn’t a stat, but rather something very fascinating and cool to see in real time. With that being said, a player's dunking ability shouldn’t be one of the most credible points a player has on their resume. The second is scoring, and sure, Griffin averaged 20 points per game or more in eight different seasons, but does that mean all that much at this point? In the NBA this season there are currently 38 players averaging 20 points per game or more. That, of course, doesn't mean they can sustain their scoring ability like Blake Griffin did, but Griffin’s best trait is arguably his scoring, and his biggest accomplishment is currently being completed by 38 different players.
Blake Griffin was one of the most fascinating players of his time. The highlights and edits of Griffin dunking over his opponents will be played on repeat for years to come. With that being said, I think Blake Griffin is going to have to be content with being known for his high-flying ability rather than as a Hall of Famer.