Joe Mazzulla says he’ll never forget this moment with newly-retired Blake Griffin
Blake Griffin announced his retirement Tuesday afternoon. Joe Mazzulla and Al Horford shared memories.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was unsure of what to expect the first time he met Blake Griffin.
Mazzulla was just a few weeks into his stint as interim head coach after replacing Ime Udoka. It was his first time as an NBA head coach. Griffin, a six-time all-star, was drafted higher (No. 1 overall in 2009) than any other player on the roster.
“The best Blake story I think is when we first signed him I was like first time head coach coaching a former No. 1 pick, we’ll see how this goes,” Mazzulla said. “I really didn’t know him that well and I really grew to have a love and respect for him when we decided to kind of go away from him.”
Griffin announced his retirement from the NBA on Tuesday, capping a 14-year career. He was the 2011 Rookie of the Year after missing the 2010 season with a knee injury. He went on to make three second-team All-NBA teams and won the Slam Dunk contest in 2011.
“I never really envisioned myself as the guy who would have a ‘letter to basketball’ retirement announcement,” Griffin said in a social media post. “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.”
Griffin averaged a career-low 13.9 minutes per game during his season with the Celtics, which turned out to be his last in the NBA, but that didn’t stop Griffin from working on his game and trying to find his way back into the rotation, Mazzulla said.
Griffin was in his 14th NBA season at that point. He and Mazzulla are practically the same age, having been born a few months apart. But he still showed the humbleness to ask the young head coach if there was any way he could still help the team.
“He came in and he pulled me to the side and said ‘hey, what can I do to get back?’ ‘What can I do to get better?’” Mazzulla continued. “For a guy of his stature with his resume and his success, his longevity of a career to come to a first time head coach and ask that said a lot about who he was. I think from that point on it kind of set the temperature of the locker room. That was a moment I’ll never forget.”
Celtics center Al Horford said he enjoyed Griffin’s presence on the team and was still holding out a little hope that Griffin would end up coming back to the team in some capacity for the playoff run.
“Great teammate. Everybody here, we love Blake,” Horford said. “There was maybe like a little hope that he would be around in some way. Just a lot of good memories with him. The year that he was here, he made it enjoyable for me. It was just fun to come in and work with him every day. Getting to talk with him, getting to know him with some of the things off the court and him as a person. Just a great guy.”
Neemias Queta became a Boston player when the team signed him earlier this month, giving the big man the team’s fifteenth and last roster place.
Griffin opted to officially announce his retirement on Tuesday after choosing not to participate this season.