{"id":65106,"date":"2024-02-26T13:04:47","date_gmt":"2024-02-26T18:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=65106"},"modified":"2024-02-26T14:35:26","modified_gmt":"2024-02-26T19:35:26","slug":"nba-rumors-celtics-players-begging-former-all-star-to-return-blake-griffin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/02\/26\/nba-rumors-celtics-players-begging-former-all-star-to-return-blake-griffin\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Rumors: Celtics Players &#8220;Begging&#8221; Former All-Star to Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>During their appearance on Barstool Sports&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/celtics\/2024\/02\/celtics-players-begged-blake-griffin-to-rejoin-roster-during-season.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pardon My Take<\/a>, Celtics players <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/whitede01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-26_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick White<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pritcpa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-26_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Payton Pritchard<\/a> made it clear they have been hoping for a former NBA All-Star to return to Boston. Per the Celtics guards, they have been &#8220;begging&#8221; for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/griffbl01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-26_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Blake Griffin<\/a> to sign with the team. And according to them, they are <a href=\"https:\/\/hoopshype.com\/rumor\/derrick-white-the-whole-team-has-been-begging-blake-griffin-to-come-back\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">not the only ones<\/a> doing so:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>When pressed about why Blake Griffin isn\u2019t suiting up with the team this season, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White acknowledged that the team\u2019s roster has tried to get him back to Boston. \u201cI don\u2019t know. We begged him to,\u201d Pritchard told PMT. \u201cI think the whole team has been begging him to,\u2019 White added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The almost 35-year-old played one season with the Celtics last year. In 41 games, including 16 starts, Griffin averaged 4.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists over 13.9 minutes per game. All these stats were career lows for the former No. 1 overall draft pick in 2009.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Derrick White and Payton Pritchard say Celtics players have been begging Blake Griffin to come back to the roster.<\/p>\n<p>Blake Griffin when asked about it: &#8220;We talk quite a bit, I\u2019m just enjoying my life right now guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>(via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrianTRobb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@BrianTRobb<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PardonMyTake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@PardonMyTake<\/a>) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dU8CSl9TMV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/dU8CSl9TMV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LegionHoops\/status\/1762166515829272977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Griffin is not the same guy he was during the &#8220;Lob City&#8221; Los Angeles Clippers days. That said, the organization seemed to enjoy having him on the roster. In the offseason, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/08\/07\/celtics-report-roundup-team-may-bring-back-former-1-pick\/\" target=\"_self\">reports suggested<\/a> the Celtics showed interest in bringing Griffin back. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/10088338-celtics-rumors-blake-griffin-contract-unlikely-for-now-as-pf-considers-options\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the idea got shot down<\/a> quickly:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>While Boston &#8220;would likely welcome a return&#8221; by Griffin for the 2023-24 season, &#8220;for now that appears unlikely&#8221; as he considers his options, according to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Regardless, Griffin made it clear <a href=\"https:\/\/hoopshype.com\/rumor\/still-a-free-agent-blake-griffin-talks-up-celtics-experience-boston-is-unbelievable\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he enjoyed his time<\/a> in Boston:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cBoston is unbelievable,\u201d he said. \u201cLiving in Boston, playing in Boston, was like one of the best experiences. Dude, the fans are incredible.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The Celtics currently have one open roster spot remaining.<\/p>\n<h2>NBA Rumors: Celtics Players &#8220;Begging&#8221; Former All-Star to Return<\/h2>\n<h3>Will Blake Griffin Return?<\/h3>\n<p>Although Griffin liked playing for the Celtics and views this current team as &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/hoopshype.com\/rumor\/2713099\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">heavy favorites<\/a>&#8221; to win the championship this year, it still seems like a reunion is unlikely. According to Pritchard, he reached out to Griffin recently about possibly coming back to Boston:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI texted him actually a week ago or two jokingly being like, \u2018Coming back for one last ride?\u2019 He says he\u2019s enjoying his life,\u201d Pritchard said. Show host Dan Katz then proceeded to call up Griffin during the appearance with Pritchard and White, deflecting when asked about a potential return later this season. \u201cWe talk quite a bit,\u201d Griffin said. \u201cI\u2019m just enjoying my life right now guys.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Derrick White and Payton Pritchard went on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PardonMyTake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@PardonMyTake<\/a> and said Blake Griffin was the best teammate and that they still talk to him all time.<\/p>\n<p>In turn, Blake Griffin joined the episode via FT and confirmed he can still dunk but that he\u2019s enjoying life right now not playing lol <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0r7deS6pz3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/0r7deS6pz3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Noa Dalzell \ud83c\udfc0 (@NoaDalzellNBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NoaDalzellNBA\/status\/1762146062569992449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nUltimately, it seems like the forward is enjoying his time away from basketball. A return to the NBA seems unlikely for Griffin at the moment.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>Griffin was one of the more solid players for the Celtics last year. He played spotty minutes and provided an energy boost off the bench. The 2011 Rookie of the Year has not officially retired yet, and if he has the desire to return to the NBA, it sounds like the Boston Celtics are a possible destination for him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During their appearance on Barstool Sports&#8217; Pardon My Take, Celtics players Derrick White and Payton Pritchard made it clear they have been hoping for a former NBA All-Star to return to Boston. Per the Celtics guards, they have been &#8220;begging&#8221; for Blake Griffin to sign with the team. And according to them, they are not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":65113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,5,27,62,3],"tags":[49038,226,1090,4774,2614],"class_list":["post-65106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-clippers","category-nba","category-news","tag-2024-nba-rumors","tag-blake-griffin","tag-derrick-white","tag-rumors","tag-payton-pritchard"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}