A momentous retirement has occurred as Blake Griffin, a player who has left an indelible mark on the game, has decided to call it a career after 14 seasons.

An All-American at the University of Oklahoma, Griffin was named the 2009 National College Player of the Year.  His success with the Sooners landed him the First Overall Pick in the ’09 Draft, joining the Los Angeles Clippers, though in what was then typical Clipper fashion, he missed the entirety of the 2009-10 season with an injured kneecap.  This setback led to one of the best rookie seasons of all-time, averaging 22.5 Points and 12.1 Rebounds per Game, with Griffin winning the Rookie of the Year unanimously.  Griffin was also an All-Star for the first of five straight years.

Named to the All-NBA Second Team in both 2011-12 and 2012-13, Griffin now had Chris Paul as his Point Guard and LOB City was formed.  The Clippers were now contenders and made the playoffs every year (except his first) that Griffin was there.  The Power Forward had his best year in Basketball in 2012-14, when he averaged 24.1 Points per Game and was third in MVP voting.  Griffin was a Third Team All-NBA Selection the following season and was eighth in MVP voting.

As electric as the Griffin and Paul combination was, they never got past the second round.  Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets in the 2017 off-season, and Griffin was traded during the year to Detroit.  In that hybrid Clippers/Pistons year, Griffin had his last good year, with a Third-Team All-NBA and his sixth and final All-Star. Injuries mounted on Griffin and gone were the jaw-dropping dunks and overpowering athleticism.  He finished his career with Brooklyn and Boston, last playing in the 2022-23 Season.

Griffin will be eligible for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2027, and he has an interesting case.  He has six All-Stars and five All-NBAs, but he never came close to leading a team to an NBA Championship. Nevertheless, we have seen players enter with less. 

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Blake Griffin the best in his post-playing career.

Pre-2019-20 Rank: #13, Pre-2020-21 Rank: #11, Pre-2021-22 Rank: #10, Pre-2022-23 Rank: #11, Pre-2023-24 Rank: #11.

*Peak Period: 2013-14 to 2020-21.  Leonard only played 9 Games in 2017-18.  Thus, we are giving him eight seasons.

Leonard won two NBA Championships with two different teams (San Antonio & Toronto) and was the MVP in both Finals.  That fact alone makes him a Hall of Famer in many eyes.  Following his one-and-done in Toronto, Leonard has given the Clippers three All-Star years, but the moody Forward has also missed an entire season (2021-22 due to an ACL injury), and begins this year on the shelf. 

Leonard, who has the 75^th Anniversary Selection should get in easily, but we openly wonder how much his legacy will take a tumble (if at all) over the next few years. 

Pre-2019-20 Rank #4, Pre-2020-21 Rank: #3, Pre-2021-22 Rank: #4, Pre-2022-23 Rank: #4, Pre-2023-24 Rank: #7.

*Positional Note:  Harden plays more at Point Guard these days, but at his peak, he was more of a Shooting Guard.

*Peak Period: 2013-14 to 2019-20.

Hmmm…

James Harden has a very intriguing Hall of Fame case, though based on the bar that Springfield had set, you could argue that he has already met the requirements.

“The Beard” is a former NBA MVP and a three-time scoring champion, but he never won an NBA Title. His best years were in Houston, but he could not lead them to the Finals while he was a Rocket.  Willing his way out of Texas, he went to Brooklyn, but his reunion with Kevin Durant in Brooklyn netted nothing for either party.  Harden then joined Philadelphia, but it was the same result, as it was another super team that could not make the Finals.

Harden is currently with the Los Angeles Clippers, and with all due respect to the star, his best years are behind him.  We have seen his body of work, which is explosive scoring and lackadaisical defense, but he is a player who should quickly enter the Hall.  Harden would love to do it as an NBA Champion, but it won’t happen as a Clipper, and this won’t be his last NBA team.

 

Like Christian Laettner, Danny Manning is one of the great college players ever, almost singlehandedly carrying Kansas to a national title in 1988.  His pro career was marked with frequent injuries and playing on some bad teams.  He was a two time All-Star and if anyone could get in for one remarkable month of basketball it would be Manning.  Manning was also elected to the college hall in 2008 thus greatly reducing his chances of getting into the main Hall in Springfield.

The unfortunate mid career trade for Byron Scott that took Norm Nixon from the Lakers to the Clippers may have extremely hurt his chances of getting in the Hall.  The Lakers did not need another point guard with Magic Johnson around though they did peacefully coexist through two titles together.  Nixon is number ten all time in assists per game even though he shared the ball with Magic for a few years. He was also a Laker for two of their title runs which we all tend to forget.  In his first full year in San Diego he led the league in assists and made his second All-Star game.  A solid rest of his career in the oblivion of the NBA does not highlight one of the quickest and best all around point guards of the 80's.

Terry Cummings was an All-American at DePaul in the heyday of Demon basketball during the early 80's.  He teamed with the likes of Mark Aguirre and Tyrone Corbin to lead dominant teams that never got over the hump during the NCAA tournament although they always seemed to be seeded number one.  Drafted second in 1982 by the San Diego Clippers, Cummings had a brilliant rookie season averaging 23.7 points and 10.4 rebounds a game and deservedly won Rookie of the Year. He was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks after the 83-84 season and continued to put up impressive numbers.  Cummings was a consistent twenty point scorer and ten rebound guy for most of his career and was one of the most reliable power forwards in the league. 

Marques Johnson played college basketball at UCLA and was a member of the last championship team of the great Bruin dynasty under legendary coach John Wooden in 1975.  Johnson was a great college player winning the first ever John Wooden college basketball player of the year award in 1977 and gained consensus first team All-American honors.  Selected 3rd overall by the Milwaukee Bucks, Johnson quickly became a star under Coach Don Nelson.  In his second season he averaged 25.6 points a game which was good for third in the league and earned first team All NBA honors.  Johnson helped the Bucks win 5 straight division titles in the early 80's but they never could get over the hump of beating the dominant Philadelphia 76ers or Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference to make the Finals. 

Sam Cassell may never have been the best player on any team he was on, but didn’t it always seem that as soon as he got to a team, they got better? Cassell was a great locker room guy, a good leader, an efficient passer and a feisty defender. He is the only player in NBA history to play over ten years and win a championship in his first and last campaign. Yet, when you play for eight different squads and only appear on one All Star Team (and again was never the go to player), is he really a Hall of Famer? Probably not, but didn’t you want him on your team?