Former professional basketball player Blake Griffin thought he was getting help. Instead, he was accidentally sent a voicemail that changed his mind about having a sports psychologist.
The retired NBA star appeared on the Friends Keep Secrets podcast on Tuesday (June 30), recounting a breach of trust that dated back to his time on the Los Angeles Clippers. Around the 35-minute mark of the video below, Griffin explained that the team had hired a sports psychologist around 2012, and sessions were mandatory for all players.
The psychologist recommended to Griffin that they meet where the athlete was most comfortable, to which the former Clippers invited him to his Manhattan Beach home. But it was after charging his phone while he was in the shower post-session that there was a missed call and a voicemail waiting for Griffin.
"When I got out, I see I had a voicemail. It was the psychologist and he said, 'Hey, coach. Just left Blake's house. We had a good talk. Some really interesting things,'" Griffin recalled.
"First of all, I can't believe he fucked up that bad ‘cause that's really fucked up. And second of all, I was like, 'Well, fuck that. But I'm never seeing another sports psychologist ever again,'" Griffin added.
While Griffin has regained trust in attending therapy, per The New York Times, the NBA formalized league-wide mental health standards in 2019, when a league memo brought in independent resources and confidentiality protections for players.
Griffin, the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft and a 6-time All-Star, played 13 seasons before retiring in April 2024. Also on the podcast, the former athlete discussed the inevitability of seeing teammates naked in the locker room.
