Quick Facts
Biography
Adrian Darnell Griffin (born July 4, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the lead assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA as a guard and small forward from 1999 to 2008. Griffin grew up in Wichita, Kansas and played collegiately at Seton Hall University.
College career
Griffin attended Seton Hall University 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 second team honors. In 2010, Griffin was inducted into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame.
Professional career
Griffin went undrafted after leaving Seton Hall University in 1996, and began his NBA career in 1999–2000 with the Boston Celtics, having spent the previous three years in Italy (playing 8 games for Cordivari Roseto from July to October 1998) and the CBA. As a rookie, his averages were 7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.61 steals per game.
Over six seasons, he played for the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls, averaging 4.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and one steal per game. A career highlight was becoming a starter for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals.
After one season with the Mavericks, Griffin signed a three-year deal with the Chicago Bulls on July 17, 2006.
On February 21, 2008, Griffin was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in an 11-player deal that involved players from the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the SuperSonics.
On August 13, 2008, Griffin was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team, six-player deal involving the Bucks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Oklahoma City Thunder that also sent Milwaukee's Mo Williams to Cleveland, Cleveland's Joe Smith and Milwaukee's Desmond Mason to Oklahoma City, and Cleveland's Damon Jones and Oklahoma City's Luke Ridnour to Milwaukee.
Coaching career
Shortly after his playing career ended, he was hired by Milwaukee Bucks head coach Scott Skiles as an assistant, where he would work for the next two seasons.
On September 9, 2010, he became an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls under Tom Thibodeau, 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. This team featured many NBA stars including: Stephen Curry, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving.
On June 26, 2015, he was hired by the Orlando Magic to be their top assistant coach.
On June 9, 2016, Adrian Griffin was hired by the Oklahoma City Thunder to be their lead assistant coach under head coach Billy Donovan.
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 defeated the Golden State Warriors in 6 games of the 2019 NBA Finals, 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 AJ is a five-star recruit in the class of 2021 and verbally committed to Duke on November 4, 2019. Griffin’s other son, Alan, plays for Illinois and his daughter, Aubrey, plays for UConn.
NBA career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–00 | Boston | 72 | 47 | 26.8 | .424 | .281 | .753 | 5.2 | 2.5 | 1.6 | .2 | 6.7 |
| 2000–01 | Boston | 44 | 0 | 8.6 | .340 | .346 | .750 | 2.0 | .6 | .4 | .1 | 2.1 |
| 2001–02 | Dallas | 58 | 34 | 23.8 | .499 | .296 | .837 | 3.9 | 1.8 | 1.3 | .2 | 7.2 |
| 2002–03 | Dallas | 74 | 48 | 18.6 | .433 | .250 | .844 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 1.0 | .1 | 4.4 |
| 2003–04 | Houston | 19 | 1 | 7.0 | .278 | .500 | .000 | 1.0 | .5 | .4 | .1 | .6 |
| 2004–05 | Chicago | 69 | 1 | 9.7 | .360 | .222 | .750 | 2.1 | .8 | .6 | .1 | 2.2 |
| 2005–06 | Dallas | 52 | 45 | 23.9 | .480 | .000 | .774 | 4.4 | 1.7 | 1.0 | .2 | 4.6 |
| 2006–07 | Chicago | 54 | 1 | 10.8 | .473 | .000 | .789 | 2.0 | 1.1 | .6 | .1 | 2.5 |
| 2007–08 | Chicago | 22 | 2 | 10.1 | .400 | .000 | .429 | 1.7 | 1.0 | .6 | .1 | 2.3 |
| 2007–08 | Seattle | 13 | 0 | 6.5 | .375 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.7 | .4 | .4 | .1 | 1.1 |
| Career | 477 | 179 | 16.8 | .438 | .278 | .763 | 3.2 | 1.4 | .9 | .1 | 4.0 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Dallas | 4 | 1 | 14.3 | .588 | .000 | .000 | 2.3 | 1.0 | .5 | .2 | 5.0 |
| 2003 | Dallas | 15 | 2 | 8.7 | .415 | .333 | 1.000 | 2.9 | .5 | .3 | .0 | 2.5 |
| 2005 | Chicago | 5 | 0 | 17.2 | .517 | .000 | .800 | 4.0 | 1.8 | 1.0 | .0 | 6.8 |
| 2006 | Dallas | 20 | 8 | 17.5 | .542 | .000 | .875 | 3.6 | 1.2 | .8 | .1 | 3.6 |
| 2007 | Chicago | 4 | 0 | 2.3 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .3 | .0 | .2 | .0 | .0 |
| Career | 48 | 11 | 13.2 | .487 | .200 | .765 | 3.0 | .9 | .6 | .1 | 3.4 | |
