Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons agreed to a buyout earlier this month that made the veteran power forward a free agent. The six-time All-Star quickly chose to sign with the loaded Brooklyn Nets (who have Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden), giving him a real chance to get his first ring.
On Sunday, Griffin made his Nets debut, and his first points came on a dunk in the fourth quarter. These were actually his only points; he played just 15 minutes and attempted only two shots in Brooklyn’s 113-106 win.
Griffin is known for his dunks, and even won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest while with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2011. But he actually hadn’t dunked for a long while. His last dunk came on Dec. 12, 2019 with the Pistons.
Now, that was only 25 games ago for Griffin, with COVID wiping out plenty of games in 2020. But a 25-game gap between dunks is pretty alarming for a guy that had at least 175 dunks in four different seasons.
So, apparently the 32-year-old is still very capable of throwing down jams. And maybe he has some more motivation while playing for a title contender.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.