Blake Griffin History - RMJH4's Dynasty

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Blake Griffin History

Posted on January 31, 2018 at 06:05 AM.

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High School - Oklahoma Christian School

Griffin won four high school state titles at Oklahoma Christian School under his father, head coach Tommy Griffin.

NCAA - Oklahoma Sooners

Griffin played two seasons of college ball for the Sooners before entering the 2009 NBA draft, when he was selected by the Clippers. Griffin was one of the highest rated and most decorated recruits ever at Oklahoma As a freshman at Oklahoma, he averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds and led the Sooners to a 23�12 record.In a game against the Kansas Jayhawks, he suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee five minutes into the game.Less than two months after injuring his left knee, he injured his right knee in a home victory against Texas A&M.The injury this time was torn cartilage, and he had arthroscopic surgery. He was expected to be a lottery pick in the 2008 NBA draft but decided to return to college to give himself time to mature physically and to try to help Oklahoma win the NCAA championship.

In Griffin's sophomore season, the Sooners started out the season winning their first 12 games before falling to the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Griffin averaged 22.7 points, 14.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game during the regular season and earned All-American First Team honors.He led the NCAA in rebounding and was also the Big 12 scoring and rebounding leader. Griffin recorded at least 20 points and 15 rebounds 15 times, which is a Big 12 record. With 30 double-doubles during the season, he was one short of the NCAA record of 31 set by David Robinson in 1986�1987.

For his sophomore year performance, Griffin swept all six of the national player of the year awards. He was a unanimous choice by voters in all nine geographical districts for the Oscar Robertson Trophy and was named Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year, receiving 66 of the 71 national media panel members' votes. Griffin was announced as the Naismith College Player of the Year on April 5 in Detroit.Three days after announcing that he would turn pro, he won the John Wooden Award as college basketball's top player.

Los Angeles Clippers

During the final pre-season game of 2009, he broke his left kneecap, had surgery, and missed the entire 2009�10 season. Griffin made his NBA debut as a rookie the following season, in which he was selected as an All-Star, won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year. In 2011, Sports Illustrated called him one of the NBA's 15 Greatest Rookies of All Time.

First playoff and division title (2011�13)

Griffin was voted to play as a starter for the first time in the 2012 NBA All-Star Game along with new teammate Chris Paul. He was also selected to participate in the inaugural Rising Stars Challenge in which teams were a mix of the top rookies and sophomores. Griffin was selected first by Team Shaq.

Griffin averaged another double-double on the lockout-shortened season with 20.7 points per game and 10.9 rebounds per game. He and teammate Chris Paul helped lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 40�26 record and made the playoffs for the first time since 2006. In the first round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, Griffin helped the Clippers eliminate the Memphis Grizzlies in seven games. However, the Los Angeles Clippers were quickly swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the next round. Afterwards, Griffin was named to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career.

Before the 2012�13 NBA season, on July 10, 2012, Griffin signed a contract extension reportedly worth $95 million for 5 years. The deal will keep him under contract until the end of the 2017�18 season.
He was also selected to compete for Team USA in the 2012 London Summer Olympics, but was removed after he injured his knee during a practice. Griffin was again voted by the fans as a starter for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game. On March 6, 2013, Griffin recorded his third career triple-double by scoring 23 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and dishing out 11 assists to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Griffin finished the season averaging 18.0 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game in 32.5 minutes per game. He and Chris Paul led the Los Angeles Clippers to a 56�26 record as the Clippers won their first Pacific Division title in franchise history. The Clippers went on to lose to the Memphis Grizzlies in six games in the first round. Griffin was named to the All-NBA Second Team once again.

New coach and owner (2013�15)

After a disappointing first round exit in the playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers sought new leadership and hired head coach Doc Rivers. In his first season with Rivers at the helm, Griffin averaged a career-high 24.1 points per game. He was voted as a starter in the NBA All-Star Game, making it his fourth consecutive All-Star appearance and third consecutive start. From January 20 to March 26, Griffin recorded 20+ points in a franchise-record 31 straight games. On April 2, 2014, Griffin and Chris Paul led the Los Angeles Clippers to a 112�108 win over the Phoenix Suns to clinch their second franchise division title. The next day, Griffin recorded his fourth career triple-double with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a 107�113 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Los Angeles Clippers finished with a franchise-best record of 57�25 and earned the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They would be matched up with the Golden State Warriors in the first round. On April 21, 2014, Griffin scored a playoff career-high 35 points in a win over Golden State. The Clippers would eventually beat the Warriors in 7 games in the midst of the Donald Sterling controversy. They would then lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference semi-finals. Griffin was named to the All-NBA Second Team for the third straight year, whilst also finishing the season third in the MVP voting.

After the controversial remarks from former Clippers owner Donald Sterling, NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling from the league for life and forced him to sell the Clippers. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer later bought the Clippers for $2 billion, the largest amount paid for a franchise in NBA history.

On December 8, 2014, Griffin scored a season-high 45 points on 14-of-24 shooting, including a game-winning three-pointer as time expired, as the Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns in overtime, 121�120. This was Griffin's first career game-winning buzzer beater. It gave the Clippers their eighth straight win. On February 8, 2015, he was ruled out for four to six weeks due to a staph infection in his right elbow. He returned to action on March 15 after missing 15 games to record 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 100�98 loss to the Houston Rockets.[ Griffin finished the regular season averaging 21.9 points, a career-low 7.6 rebounds, and a career-high 5.3 assists in 67 games.

On April 22, Griffin recorded his first career playoff triple-double with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in a first round game 2 series loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Four days later in Game 4, Griffin recorded a playoff career-high 19 rebounds and with 20 points helped the Clippers even the series at 2�2. In the series' Game 7 victory on May 2 that moved the Clippers into the second round, Griffin recorded his second career playoff triple-double with 24 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists.[93] Two days later in Game 1 of the Clippers' semi-final match-up against the Houston Rockets, Griffin recorded 26 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists for his second straight triple-double to lift the Clippers to a 117�101 victory.The Clippers ended up losing the series to the Rockets in seven games.

Injury-plagued seasons (2015�18)
On November 25, 2015, Griffin recorded season highs with 40 points and 12 rebounds in a loss to the Utah Jazz, with the Clippers dropping to 7�8 after starting the season 4�0. On December 26, he was ruled out indefinitely with a partially torn left quadriceps. While expected to return to action on January 26, Griffin was instead ruled out for an estimated four to six weeks due to a right hand injury he sustained on January 23 from hitting a member of the team's equipment staff, who was also his friend, during an argument at a restaurant in Toronto. The Clippers were sternly critical of Griffin, and indicated that further punitive action would follow.

Griffin missed 45 games in total due to injury and suspension, returning to action for the Clippers on April 3 against the Washington Wizards. He played 24 minutes as a starter and recorded six points and five rebounds to help the Clippers clinch home-court advantage in the playoffs with a 114�109 win. He appeared in five of the Clippers' final seven games of the regular season, and managed to appear in the first four first-round playoff games against the Portland Trail Blazers before aggravating the left quad injury in Game 4, which ruled him out for the rest of the postseason.

On April 22, 2017, Griffin was ruled out for the remainder of the 2017 NBA Playoffs with an injury to the plantar plate of his right big toe suffered during the Clippers' 111�106 win over the Utah Jazz in Game 3 of their Western Conference First Round Playoff series the night before.

On July 19, 2017, Griffin re-signed with the Clippers to a five-year, $173 million contract.On November 22, 2017, he had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 116�103 win over the Atlanta Hawks, helping the Clippers snap a nine-game losing streak. Three days later, he made a 10-foot jumper with 3.2 seconds remaining and had a season-high 33 points to lead the Clippers to a 97�95 win over the Sacramento Kings. On November 28, 2017, he was ruled out for approximately two months after sustaining an MCL sprain against the Los Angeles Lakers the previous night. He returned to action early than expected on December 29 against the Lakers, scoring a game-high 24 points in a 121�106 win. On January 22, 2018, he had a triple-double with 32 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists in a 126�118 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Griffin notched his seventh career regular-season triple-double, and second of the season. It was his third 30-point game of the season, and he was one point shy of his season high.

Detroit Pistons (2018�present)

On January 29, 2018, Griffin, along with Willie Reed and Brice Johnson, was traded to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanović, a future protected first-round draft pick and a future second-round draft pick