Multiple Celtics players have been ‘begging’ Blake Griffin to come back to Boston

The Boston Celtics are having an outstanding season so far and are among the top contenders to win the NBA championship, but that hasn’t stopped some of their players from campaigning to have Blake Griffin rejoin the team.

“The whole team has been begging him to come back to Boston,” Celtics guard Derrick White said.

Boston guard Payton Pritchard said he has reached out to Griffin directly but so far, to no avail.

“I texted him actually like a week or two (ago) jokingly, being like, ‘Coming back for one last ride?'” Pritchard said. “He said he’s enjoying his life.”

Griffin briefly joined the conversation via FaceTime and called the Celtics the title favorites in the NBA right now.

“I don’t wanna put bad juju on ’em, but yeah, they’re the heavy favorites in my mind,” Griffin said.

About to turn 35 next month, Griffin played 41 regular season games for the Celtics in the 2022-23 campaign, averaging 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest. It was his 13th season of action in the NBA after stints with the Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons and Brooklyn Nets.

He won Rookie of the Year honors for the 2010-11 season after sitting out the 2009-10 campaign because of injury. He’s a six-time All-Star and sports career averages of 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

However, he has never played in a conference finals or NBA Finals. Though the Celtics reached the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, Griffin did not appear in that series, which Boston lost to the Miami Heat in seven games.

This season, the Celtics are atop the Eastern Conference with a 45-12 record. They have won 16 of their past 19 games and will take an eight-game winning streak into their meeting with the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.

Led by Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics may have little need to add Griffin to the mix. But the former No. 1 overall pick was praised by both White and Pritchard as an excellent teammate.

The podcast host teased Griffin about the idea that the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest champion can no longer dunk. He said that if that narrative can somehow be changed, he might consider a comeback.

“If you get that out there and enough people start tweeting about it, then maybe I’ll come back,” Griffin said.

Though Griffin almost certainly was joking, that probably won’t stop White, Pritchard and maybe some other Celtics from trying to get him back in the fold for what they hope will be another long playoff run.