Adrian Darnell Griffin Sr. (born July 4, 1974) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). He played in the NBA as a

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

from 1999 to 2008. Griffin grew up in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

and played collegiately at

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

Controversy

In August 2020, Griffin was publicly accused of domestic abuse by his former wife, Audrey Sterling. The Raptors took no action and conducted no investigation in regards to said allegations. Griffin started in August 2021 and ultimately abandoned a libel suit again Sterling in response.

College career

Griffin attended

and was a three-year starter. As a senior, he averaged 16.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game, and won All-

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

second team honors. In 2010, Griffin was inducted into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Griffin was not selected in the

1996 NBA draft The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th draft in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held on June 26, 1996 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting college basketball play ...

. He spent the first three years of his career in the American minor leagues and in Italy (playing 8 games for Cordivari Roseto from July to October 1998). Griffin was selected to the All-Rookie First Team in 1997 while playing for the

Connecticut Pride The Connecticut Pride (From 1993-94 the Hartford Hellcats) were an American professional basketball team based in Hartford, Connecticut that was a member of the Continental Basketball Association. They played in Hartford from 1993 to 2000, primar ...

of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

. He was selected to the All-CBA First Team and All-Defensive Team with the Pride in 1998. Griffin led the Pride to the CBA championship in the 1998–99 season as he was named the Finals Most Valuable Player. He was also selected as the

CBA Most Valuable Player Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Most Valuable Player (MVP) is the annual award that is handed out at the end of each Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) regular season to the league's most valuable player. From the league's inaugural 1995� ...

and earned All-CBA First Team and All-Defensive Team honors. Griffin began his

(NBA) career in 1999–2000 with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

. As a rookie, his averages were 7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.61 steals per game. Over six seasons, he played for the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

and

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

, averaging 4.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and one steal per game. A career highlight was becoming a starter for the

in the 2006 NBA Finals. After one season with the Mavericks, Griffin signed a three-year deal with the

on July 17, 2006. On February 21, 2008, Griffin was traded to the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

in an 11-player deal that involved players from the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, and the SuperSonics. On August 13, 2008, Griffin was traded to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

in a three-team, six-player deal involving the Bucks, the

, and the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

that also sent Milwaukee's

Mo Williams Maurice Williams (born December 19, 1982) is the head men's basketball coach at Jackson State University and a former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a successful high scho ...

to Cleveland, Cleveland's Joe Smith and Milwaukee's

Desmond Mason Desmond Tremaine Mason (born October 11, 1977) is an American painter and former professional basketball player. He played as a shooting guard and small forward. Mason has also found success as an artist, working in a variety of media. Currently, ...

to Oklahoma City, and Cleveland's

Damon Jones Damon Darron Jones (born August 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who was an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A combo guard, he played college baske ...

and Oklahoma City's

Luke Ridnour Lukas Robin Ridnour (born February 13, 1981) is an American retired professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association (NBA). High school career Ridnour was born in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and grew up in Blaine, Washington. His fa ...

to Milwaukee.

Coaching career

Shortly after his playing career ended, he was hired by

head coach

Scott Skiles Scott Allen Skiles Sr. (born March 5, 1964) is an American former basketball coach and player. He coached the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic. A first-round draft pick out of Michigan State University, Skiles played ...

as an assistant, where he would work for the next two seasons. On September 9, 2010, he became an assistant coach for the

under

Tom Thibodeau Thomas Joseph Thibodeau Jr. ( ; born January 17, 1958) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He served as an assistant coach for the United States men's national ...

, where he coached for five years. Along with working in the NBA, in 2014, Griffin accepted the offer to work with the USA coaching staff that helped win the Gold Medal in the 2014

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

. This team featured many NBA stars including:

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, ...

James Harden James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden is regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA ...

, and

Kyrie Irving Kyrie Andrew Irving (; lkt, Ȟéla, italic=no, ; born March 23, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named the Rookie of the Year after being selected b ...

. On June 26, 2015, he was hired by the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

to be their top assistant coach. On June 9, 2016, Adrian Griffin was hired by the

to be their lead assistant coach under head coach

Billy Donovan William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He has served as head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since September 2020 after previously coa ...

. On June 25, 2018, Adrian Griffin was hired by the Toronto Raptors to be the lead assistant coach under first-year head coach Nick Nurse. Griffin was an instrumental piece of the Raptors 2019 championship run, where the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

defeated the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

in 6 games of the

2019 NBA Finals The 2019 NBA Finals was the NBA Finals, championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2018–19 NBA season, 2018–19 season and conclusion of the 2019 NBA playoffs, season's playoffs. In the best-of-seven playoff series held ...

, yielding Griffin his first championship ring.

Personal life

Griffin has completed his bachelor's and master's degrees from Seton Hall and is working on his doctorate in leadership studies. Griffin's son Adrian Jr. is a five-star recruit in the class of 2021 and was drafted 16th overall to the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

in 2022. Griffin’s other son,

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' *A ...

, played his first two college seasons at Illinois before transferring to Syracuse to continue his collegiate career. His daughter, Aubrey, plays for UConn.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, 72 , , 47 , , 26.8 , , .424 , , .281 , , .753 , , 5.2 , , 2.5 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , 6.7 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 44 , , 0 , , 8.6 , , .340 , , .346 , , .750 , , 2.0 , , .6 , , .4 , , .1 , , 2.1 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, 58 , , 34 , , 23.8 , , .499 , , .296 , , .837 , , 3.9 , , 1.8 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 7.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 74 , , 48 , , 18.6 , , .433 , , .250 , , .844 , , 3.6 , , 1.4 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 4.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, 19 , , 1 , , 7.0 , , .278 , , .500 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .4 , , .1 , , .6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

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, 69 , , 1 , , 9.7 , , .360 , , .222 , , .750 , , 2.1 , , .8 , , .6 , , .1 , , 2.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 52 , , 45 , , 23.9 , , .480 , , .000 , , .774 , , 4.4 , , 1.7 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 4.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 54 , , 1 , , 10.8 , , .473 , , .000 , , .789 , , 2.0 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , .1 , , 2.5 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 22 , , 2 , , 10.1 , , .400 , , .000 , , .429 , , 1.7 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .1 , , 2.3 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, 13 , , 0 , , 6.5 , , .375 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , .4 , , .1 , , 1.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 477 , , 179 , , 16.8 , , .438 , , .278 , , .763 , , 3.2 , , 1.4 , , .9 , , .1 , , 4.0

Playoffs

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2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

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, 4 , , 1 , , 14.3 , , .588 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .2 , , 5.0 , - , align="left" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

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, 15 , , 2 , , 8.7 , , .415 , , .333 , , 1.000 , , 2.9 , , .5 , , .3 , , .0 , , 2.5 , - , align="left" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

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, 5 , , 0 , , 17.2 , , .517 , , .000 , , .800 , , 4.0 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 6.8 , - , align="left" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

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, 20 , , 8 , , 17.5 , , .542 , , .000 , , .875 , , 3.6 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .1 , , 3.6 , - , align="left" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, align="left" ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 4 , , 0 , , 2.3 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .3 , , .0 , , .2 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 48 , , 11 , , 13.2 , , .487 , , .200 , , .765 , , 3.0 , , .9 , , .6 , , .1 , , 3.4

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Adrian 1974 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball coaches African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Atlantic City Seagulls players Basketball coaches from Kansas Basketball players from Wichita, Kansas Boston Celtics players Chicago Bulls assistant coaches Chicago Bulls players Connecticut Pride players Dallas Mavericks players Houston Rockets players Milwaukee Bucks assistant coaches Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coaches Orlando Magic assistant coaches Roseto Sharks players Seattle SuperSonics players Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball players Shooting guards Small forwards Toronto Raptors assistant coaches Undrafted National Basketball Association players