Former NBA star Blake Griffin appeared on the latest episode of the Friends Keep Secrets podcast, where he was asked if he had ever gone to a sports psychologist during his career. Griffin revealed he had, but his first meeting with one proved to be his last.
“My first time ever seeing a sports psychologist around 2012, I think it was,” Griffin said. “It sort of became more of a thing, and the Clippers hired the team sports psychologist, and everybody was required to meet with him… Comes up to me after practice, he’s like, ‘Hey, if you want to meet like outside of here, we don’t have to sit [here], we can go get coffee. I can come by the house.’
“And I lived in Manhattan Beach at the time, like down the ocean,” Griffin continued. “I was like, ‘Yeah, why don’t you come [to my house]?’ And we sat on my balcony, we talked. He left, and I went in to take a shower. I put my phone in the charger, took a shower, came back, and I see a missed call from him in a voicemail.
“So, I clicked the voicemail,” Griffin added. “And it’s him, and he goes, ‘Hey, coach just left Blake’s house. We had a good talk. Some really interesting things.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my god.’… First of all, I can’t believe he f***ed up that bad, because that’s really f***ed up. And second of all, I was like, ‘Well, f*** that. I’m never seeing another sports psychologist ever again.”
That’s appalling. A psychologist is not supposed to reveal that information to anybody. You’re urged to be vulnerable and speak your mind to them, as whatever is said is to remain confidential.
You can’t blame Griffin for never trusting a sports psychologist again, with this being his first experience. With how quickly that call was made after their meeting, you’d imagine this disclosure of information was agreed upon in advance.
In 2012, the Los Angeles Clippers‘ head coach was one Vinny Del Negro. This is a pretty bad look for Del Negro as well if he had asked the psychologist to provide him with details.
Whatever Griffin had to say was none of Del Negro’s business. While the 37-year-old never went to a psychologist again, he shared here that he does go to therapy even today.
“Yeah, I do,” Griffin said. “I didn’t most of my career, but I have like pretty consistently lately.”
With how injuries started to bog Griffin down in the second half of his career, it’s not a surprise that he sought therapy. He even spoke to CJ McCollum about the benefits of consulting a therapist back in 2018.
“I have gone and seen a therapist before – just to sit and talk,” Griffin said, via Rod Beard. “What a lot of people don’t realize about therapy is they’re not giving you answers; they’re helping you find those answers.”
The Clippers had selected Griffin with the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, but he’d miss the entire 2009-10 season with injury. He would shine when he finally stepped out onto the court, winning Rookie of the Year and being named an All-Star in 2011.
Griffin would make the team in each of the next four years as well, but then came the injuries. He still performed at a high level when he played for a few more years, but it was only a matter of time before he started slowing down.
Griffin made another All-Star team with the Detroit Pistons in 2019, but that would be his last great year. He eventually chose to retire in 2024, aged 35, after 14 seasons in the NBA.
