Former Duke basketball star may step away from basketball

AJ Griffin was a huge contributor in his one year at Duke in Coach K's final year. Duke made it all the way to the Final Four before losing to 8-seed North Carolina in heartbreak fashion. Griffin started 25 games and averaged 10.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and an assist per contest. His NBA appeal was due to his big frame and shooting ability, as Griffin shot nearly 45% from three-point range on just under five attempts a game in his one year wearing Duke blue. After his freshman season, Griffin declared for the 2022 NBA Draft where he was selected sixteenth overall by the Atlanta Hawks.

In his rookie season, Griffin appeared in 72 games playing just under twenty minutes a night. He finished his season averaging 8.9 points and 2.1 rebounds while shooting 46.5% from the field and 39% from beyond the arc.

His second season in the NBA didn't go as planned, as many around the league thought Griffin would take that next jump into becoming a legitimate NBA starter. Lingering injuries kept him out of NBA play for a while, constantly moving him back-and-forth between the Hawks and its G-League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks. He only saw action in twenty NBA games in his second season, averaging 2.4 points and 0.9 rebounds while shooting 29% from the field and 25% from three.

The Hawks seemingly lost faith in the product, trading him this past summer for a second round pick. Now, reports are coming out that Griffin may step away from basketball completely.

There are few details on why Griffin is debating leaving the game or if this is a permanent or temporary decision, but nonetheless he is weighing his options after a disastrous sophomore year in the NBA. On a young and crowded Rockets roster with tons of talent, Griffin will certainly be fighting for playing time and may not even be guaranteed to make the roster. The mental health of college and professional athletes constantly flies under the radar as these guys are only looked at in one aspect a lot of the time, if they are good at the sport they're getting paid millions to play. Griffin is a prime example of the mental toll professional sports can take on someone, and Duke fans hope nothing but the best in Griffin's recovery from whatever he is going through right now. The wing is still oozing with talent in his young career and a comeback is not out of the question, but it seems at the moment Griffin will be taking time off from the game to get healthy.