Boston Celtics players want six-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin to rejoin the team.
Griffin appeared in 41 games with the Celtics last season. He chose not to play this season so he could spend more time with his family.
Celtics guards Derrick White and Payton Pritchard said during an appearance on “Pardon My Take” that many players on the team have called Griffin and begged him to return to the franchise.
“I don’t know,” Pritchard said. “We begged him to.”
Added White: “I think the whole team has been begging him to.”
Griffin averaged 4.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.2 blocks for the Celtics last season. He was a terrific leader and mentor in the locker room.
“I texted him actually a week ago or two jokingly being like, ‘Coming back for one last ride?’ He says he’s enjoying his life,” Pritchard said.
One of the best players in NBA history, Griffin has career averages of 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks with the Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets and Celtics. He won the 2010-11 Rookie of the Year Award and made five All-NBA teams.
“We talk quite a bit,” Griffin said when Dan Katz called him. “I’m just enjoying my life right now guys.”
The Celtics have the top record in the NBA. They are 45-12.
“They’re my favorites,” Griffin said of Boston’s title chances. “I don’t guarantee, I don’t want to put bad juju on them, but they are the heavy favorites in my mind.”
The Celtics are fifth in the league in points per game and fifth in points per game allowed.
It doesn’t look like Griffin will be coming back to Boston, but the Oklahoma product is rooting for his former team to win it all.
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