Detroit Pistons fans will always have mixed feelings about the Blake Griffin era in the Motor City, and those feelings are reflected in debates about his case for the Hall of Fame.
Griffin was great for one season with the Pistons, making All-NBA and dragging a mediocre supporting cast to the playoffs on one leg while wearing a knee brace bigger than Jose Calderon.
It was a fun season that ended in a predictable first-round slaughter and marked the last time we saw Blake Griffin as a star.
The terrible trade the Pistons made to get him, coupled with his bloated salary, left Detroit in a tough spot that led to the worst years in franchise history. Griffin’s time in Detroit was wrecked by injuries, something you could say about his entire career, which is why his Hall of Fame credentials are debatable.
Blake Griffin belongs in the Hall of Fame, but it’s not a slam dunk
This was a recent topic of debate on the Yahoo Sports podcast, where the hosts looked at different Hall of Fame candidates in 2026 and 2027 and whether they should get in.
Blake Griffin's accolades and shortcomings are well documented, as Blake made the All-Star team six times and was on the All-NBA team five times, but his career was limited by injuries.
This is where the debate begins.
There is no doubt that Griffin had a huge impact on the game, and he was one of the best 10 players in the NBA in the peak of his career.
But that peak was short, which led to him having fewer than 15,000 career points. Yahoo Sports went through some of the players who have more career points than Griffin, a list that included Allan Houston, Richard Jefferson and Mike Bibby, none of whom are considered anywhere near Hall of Fame players, though they had great careers.
Griffin was far better than all of these players and was arguably the most electrifying athlete in the league during much of his career, but should longevity matter?
To me, Blake Griffin is a no-doubt Hall of Famer, as the NBA Hall of Fame has always been easier to crack and it would be difficult to speak about that particular era of basketball (especially in terms of the Clippers) without mentioning Griffin.
Unlike baseball, the basketball Hall of Fame has never had strict unwritten rules about numbers you have to achieve to get in, it’s a celebration of the best players of each era and Griffin was one of them.