Six-time All-Star Blake Griffin is officially retiring from the NBA

There is a younger generation of NBA fans, those who perhaps only saw him play in Detroit or last season in Boston, who don't understand what an absolute force of nature Blake Griffin was. From the moment he entered the league to his peak, Giffin was a nightly highlight in his own right.

On Tuesday, Griffin — who was out of the NBA this season — officially retired.

Griffin's resume is impressive: No. 1 overall pick, five-time All-NBA, six-time All-Star and 2011 Rookie of the Year. So is he won the Slam Dunk Contest by jumping over a car. It's a career that's at least worth discussing whether it's worthy of being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

He is also a player who exemplifies how to change his game throughout his career. When Griffin came into the league, he never had a jump shot to speak of, but he was almost impossible to stop when things went south (think Zion Williamson). As his career progressed, that began to change. Griffin was so good from 15 to 18 feet from the wing that defenders had to respect the shot, and then the lanes opened up. Griffin became a better passer and playmaker, and by the end of his time in Detroit and then Brooklyn, he developed a respectable 3-point shot.

Griffin is also the most important Clipper of all time, the first domino that took the franchise from a laughingstock to a franchise that has been to the playoffs 11 times in the last 13 years, with a string of five straight 50-plus win seasons, while Griffin was there. When the Clippers drafted Griffin, that team had been to the playoffs four times in the 31 seasons since he moved to Los Angeles, and Donald Sterling's ownership was at the heart of the embarrassment. Griffin's arrival, with his potential and work ethic, led then-coach Mike Dunleavy to give the organization the impression that it was time to get serious – about the players they were bringing in around Griffin, about the culture of the organization and how they played on the field. Griffin's arrival began to change things in basketball operations – within a few years, the Clippers were everyone's second-favorite team because Lob City was so entertaining.

There were bigger factors that changed the Clippers – Donald Sterling was ejected and Steve Ballmer retired – and there were better players, although not many. However, it was Griffin's arrival and presence that he brought to the game and the locker room that led to changes in this organization. He will forever be one of the Clippers' greatest, even if they sent him to Detroit in an abrupt and harsh manner.

And you should check out some of his highlights on YouTube.