Once the NBA’s highest-flying player, Blake Griffin’s NBA profession ended with barely a whisper. Now, we have a higher idea of why.
Brian Robb of MassLive said Monday that a couple of Boston Celtics players have reached out to Griffin during the season in the hopes of convincing him to return to the team.
Several of them reportedly contacted Griffin for the duration of the team’s West Coast time out in December. The outreach to Griffin has also continued in latest weeks, Robb adds.
However, Griffin, who went unsigned through the complete offseason as well, has declined all of their overtures to this point.
After exercise on Monday, Celtics head instruct Joe Mazzulla addressed the team’s hobby in bringing lower back Griffin. Mazzulla stated that Griffin became down their hobby out of a desire to spend greater time with his family.
“When he instructed me at the end of ultimate yr that his family was the most important thing, I stopped speaking to him about it,” stated Mazzulla, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “Because I comprehend what it’s like to be away from your kids and away from your family.”
The six-time All-Star Griffin, who made forty one appearances as a reserve final season for the Celtics, is nonetheless solely 34 years old.
But he spent roughly the remaining decade-and-a-half in the NBA and had gotten seriously slowed by limitless lower-body injuries and surgeries.
With Griffin going through the prospect of being more of a team mascot than anything these days, going via the grind of the NBA season was once likely no longer really worth it for him and his family.
A former No. 1 universal pick, Griffin is nonetheless beloved by the Celtics, who are the favorites to win the NBA title this 12 months and would give Griffin a real shot at his first profession championship if he have been to re-sign with them.
But it sounds like Griffin, who made over $255 million in career income and can fall returned on different off-court pursuits, has greater priorities in existence proper now.
