Does Blake Griffin deserve to have his jersey retired by the LA Clippers?

On Saturday afternoon, Blake Griffin will make his first return to STAPLES Center to take on the LA Clippers, which begs the question: Should his jersey be retired?

It’s been a long time — almost a year to the date, in fact — since Blake Griffin wore an LA Clippers uniform at STAPLES Center.

It was January 24, 2018. The Clippers fell short in a battle against the Boston Celtics, 113-102, in what would become Griffin’s final home game with the LA Clippers. At the time, though, nobody really knew it would be.

Well, that’s not true. The team might’ve known. We just didn’t.

The following two games would be Griffin’s last with the Clippers entirely — both wins on the road, against the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans.

And now, nearly one year later, Griffin will again step foot on LA’s floor. He just won’t be wearing the number 32, the bumble patch, or the word “CLIPPERS” across the front of his jersey.

The time since Griffin’s trade has been surprising, to say the least. The trade, albeit a shock, looks increasingly like it was won by the Clippers.

Tobias Harris could very well be an All-Star this year, and rightfully so. He’s averaging 21 points and eight rebounds per game, and he’s less than one free throw percentage point away from having splits above 50/40/90.

Boban Marjanovic and Avery Bradley have each had their moments as well — more Marjanovic than Bradley, but still.

Most importantly, the Clippers managed to get a first-round selection from Detroit, which eventually became Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Still though, none of that takes away from the impact Griffin made during his time with the LA Clippers.

Before Griffin came to Los Angeles via the 2009 NBA Draft, the Clippers had never had a 50-win season in franchise history. After Griffin’s tenure, there are five different ones on the record books. He also brought the Clippers as deep into the playoffs as they’d ever gone and though they still never made it to the Conference Finals with him at the helm, he was absolutely the focal point of the best teams in LA Clippers history.

However, Griffin’s greatest achievements could also be considered to be his greatest downfalls. The argument can be made that although he led LA to multiple 50-win seasons, they never had anything to show for it. The same argument can be made about the disappointing playoff runs fronted by Griffin. And there’s also the easiest argument to make, which is that Griffin never brought the Clippers a title.

But the biggest misconception about a jersey retirement is that the recipient must have won a title  with the team — and that just isn’t true.

Take Allen Iverson, for example. “The Answer” never brought the 76ers a title, yet the franchise retired his number in March 2014. Of course, Iverson was an NBA MVP, and he brought the Sixers to The Finals, so maybe he was more deserving?

But on a different note, take Bobby “Bingo” Smith, who had his number retired by the Cleveland Cavaliers. His story is more similar to Griffin’s in some fashions — he played for a historically poor team, brought them to new heights, and was eventually traded (to the Clippers, ironically. Also ironically, this is why Ralph Lawler does his famed “bingo” chant). Yet he was iconic to the franchise because he was the first “great” in their history.

You don’t necessarily have to “win” to have your jersey retired. You just have to mean enough, which again, makes us wonder: Should the Clippers hang Griffin’s jersey in the rafters?

That one is up to you. However, if it was up to us, we’d give him a vote of approval.