Cleveland Cavaliers star Evan Mobley evidently made an NBA legend retire.
Few players around basketball have progressed as much as Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley the last couple of years, and NBA legend Blake Griffin found that out the hard way.
Back during Griffin's final season in the league with the Boston Celtics in 2022-23, Griffin faced Mobley, and it didn't turn out too well for him.
During a recent appearance on Amazon Prime with a few former NBA stars, Griffin revealed that his matchup against Mobley three seasons ago basically forced him into retirement.
“I was playing in Boston, which was my last year. We were playing in Cleveland at the time. I check into the game with a couple of minutes left in the first quarter. Going up and down, guarding Evan Mobley. Jumper, come back down, hook, come back down, put-back, come back down. So he gets fouled and we're both on the free-throw line, and I'm like [exhausted],” Griffin said.
Griffin then said he noticed that Mobley did not seem affected by fatigue at all.
“I was like, ‘What’s wrong with this guy?'" Griffin added. "... That’s kind of when I knew. I remember having that thought to myself on the free-throw line. This kid is a freak, or it’s time to hang it up, and I realized it then.”
Mobley has gotten even better since Griffin's last season in the NBA, too. Last year, Mobley won the Defensive Player of the Year award and received some MVP consideration after averaging 18.5 points and 9.3 rebounds over 30.5 minutes per game on 55.7/37.0/72.5 shooting splits.
Through 10 games this season, the 24-year-old is registering 20 points, 8.5 boards and 4.2 assists across 33.4 minutes a night while shooting 47.4 percent from the floor, 31.4 percent from three-point range and 67.8 percent from the free-throw line.
Obviously, Mobley's percentages could stand to improve this year, but it's also worth noting that he is attempting a career-high 15.2 shots per game, a significant jump compared to the previous career high of 12.8 he posted last season.
Mobley's volume will likely decrease a bit now that Darius Garland is back on the floor for Cleveland, so his percentages may recover a bit with that.
The former No. 3 overall pick signed a five-year max extension with the Cavaliers during the summer of 2024.