ANKARA
The Boston Celtics’ forward Blake Griffin announced his retirement from basketball on Tuesday at the age of 35.
“I never envisioned myself as the guy who would have a ‘letter to basketball’ retirement announcement … and I’m still not going to be that guy. But as I reflected on my career, the one feeling I kept coming back to and the one thing I wanted to express was thankfulness,” Blake said.
“The game of basketball has given me so much in this life, and I wouldn’t change a thing,” he added.
Blake was the No. 1 pick of the 2009 draft by the Los Angeles Clippers but he was not able to participate in 2009-10 due to a knee injury.
Griffin was selected as “the 2010-11 Rookie of the Year” with 22.5 ppg, 12.1 rpg and 3.8 apg averages and became the first player to do so unanimously since David Robinson in 1989-90.
Griffin, who ranks as the No. 2 scorer in Clippers’ history with 10,863 points, was included in the NBA All-Star six times (2011–2015, 2019).
He also played for the Detroit Pistons, the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics.
