Blake Griffin announces his retirement from the NBA after playing 13 seasons

The time has come for Blake Griffin. After 14 years in the NBA, he gave up his career. He published a post on X-Tuesday that contained just one word — “Fin,” which means “end” in French — and a graphic with the words that would end his NBA career.

“I never imagined I'd be the guy to announce his retirement with a 'Letter to Basketball' … and I still won't be that guy,” Griffin said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “But as I reflected on my career, I kept coming back to one feeling and the only thing I wanted to express was gratitude.“

Griffin, 35, spent more than half of his career with the Los Angeles Clippers, but also spent more than three years with the Detroit Pistons, two with the Brooklyn Nets and a single season with the Boston Celtics. Griffin spent the 2023–2024 NBA season as a free agent.

Many of the responses to his retirement post recognized Griffin as a Laud City legend thanks to the seven-plus seasons he spent with the Clippers from 2009 to 2018. Griffin, along with Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan, were part of a Clippers renaissance due to the style and swagger they displayed on the court, earning them the nickname “Lob City.” Griffin's amazing dunking skills are one of the reasons the clips went from laughingstock to must-see TV.

But Griffin's career was marred by injuries and surgeries, which he mentioned in his retirement post.

In fact, Griffin's professional career began with an injury. While he played in 13 NBA seasons, he appeared in 14 NBA seasons. After being drafted first overall by the Clippers in 2009, Griffin broke his kneecap in the team's final preseason game and ultimately missed the entire 2009–2010 season. However, it was worth waiting for him. He had a tremendous performance in his first season, averaging 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per game on 51% shooting en route to winning the Rookie of the Year Award.

Despite the injuries and surgeries, Griffin was often sensational and continued to adapt, change and grow wherever he went. He finished his career averaging 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, having made six trips to the All-Star Game and been named All-NBA five times.

“The game of basketball has given me so much in this life and I wouldn’t change a thing,” Griffin wrote at the end of his post. “Finally, here's the obligatory 'I'm looking forward to my next chapter' part – just kidding, I'm done.”