Wooden Award Flashback: Blake Griffin makes his mark at Oklahoma

The John R. Wooden Award will celebrate it's 50th anniversary this season. Leading up to the award ceremony on April 10, 2026, The Sporting Tribune in partnership with the Wooden Award and the Los Angeles Athletic Club will highlight past winners of the Wooden Award and the Legends of Coaching Award. 

It’s usually a process for players to reach notoriety in the NBA, but every once in a while someone gets there as if shot from a cannon. One such player was the high-flying Blake Griffin.

Blake Austin Griffin was born March 16, 1989 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where he and his older brother Taylor were home-schooled until Taylor was in the tenth grade and Blake was in eighth.

Before deciding to focus soley on basketball Griffin also played baseball and football, but In 2003 he followed his brother to Oklahoma Christian School where they played basketball under their father, head coach Tommy Griffin. They played together during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons, winning two state basketball championships in the process. He was named to the All-State team in what was his final high school season with Taylor, who had accepted a scholarship to play collegiately for the home-state Oklahoma Sooners.

In Griffin's junior year he led the 27-1 Saints to a third straight state crown while taking home The Oklahoman (newspaper) Player of the Year award.

By this time Griffin was taking a hard look at the likes of Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, and Texas, but his brother was able to persuade him to also join the Sooners.

Griffin committed to Oklahoma prior to the start of his senior year, where he went on to average 26.8 points, 15.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.9 blocks per game, leading the Saints to a fourth straight state title.

He was named to the Oklahoma Boys All-State First Team and Parade All-American Third Team. Additionally, he was the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year and was selected to both the McDonald's and Jordan Brand All-America teams.

“My dad was a huge basketball influence in my life on and off the court. Playing for him and having him around, having him push me harder than maybe another coach would have was a huge blessing for me,” Griffin said of his hoops beginnings. “Getting to play with my brother was an unreal experience at Oklahoma, in college, it's some of the funnest times I've had in basketball, and I'll cherish those memories forever.”

Griffin was one of the most decorated recruits ever to play for the Sooners, and as a freshman the powerful 6-9 forward became a first-team all-district selection by the US Basketball Writers Association and National Association of Basketball Coaches, and was named to the All-Big 12 Conference First-Team. Expected to be a lottery pick in the 2008 NBA draft, he opted to return to Oklahoma to try to help the Sooners win a national championship.

In Griffin's sophomore season, Oklahoma jumped out to a 12-0 start before finishing second in the conference with a 13–3 record, and losing to North Carolina in the South Regional final of the NCAA Tournament.

He averaged 22.7 points, 14.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game during the regular season and took home First Team All-American honors while leading the country in rebounding.

Griffin swept all six of the national player of the year honors, including the James Naismith College Player of the Year, and the coveted John R. Wooden Awards as college basketball's top player. He was ultimately selected first overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Griffin played for Los Angeles during the NBA Summer League and was named the league’s MVP. But in the Clippers’ final preseason game, he injured his left knee, and just prior to the start the 2009-10 season it was announced that he had suffered a stress fracture, delaying his NBA debut for several weeks. Tests later revealed that the knee was not recovering as hoped, and in January 2010 he had surgery, causing him to miss the remainder of his debut season.

Due to the timing of the injury, Griffin was still considered a rookie when the 2010-11 season got underway, and went on to set a franchise record for most consecutive double-doubles with 27.

He was voted to the 2011 NBA All-Star Game that season, and as an exceptional athlete known for his highlight dunks, he went on to win the Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Weekend before leading all rookies in points, rebounds, and double-doubles on the year, and earning Rookie of the Year honors.

As happens, unfortunately, injuries would interfere with Griffin’s career over the ensuing years, and in January 2018, he was traded to the Detroit Pistons where he played until 2021. He then signed with the Brooklyn Nets, and finally, in September 2022, after 14 NBA seasons, he signed with the Boston Celtics, with whom he stayed until announcing his retirement in April 2024.

He would finish his professional career as a six-time NBA All-Star (2011–2015, 2019), three-time All-NBA Second Team selection (2012–2014), and two-time All-NBA Third Team selection (2015, 2019).

Since retiring, Griffin has been busy as an analyst for the NBA on Prime, a FanDuel ambassador, a producer, a coach and a mentor.

“Sometimes you get lucky – you don't put much work in and you're successful anyway,” he once said. “But over the course of time, if you really want to shape your path, I think it's about the quality of the time you put in.”