Childhood
Blake Griffin was born on March 16, 1989, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Tommy and Gail Griffin. His father was a basketball center and track standout at NAIA Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Griffin and his older brother, Taylor Griffin, were home-schooled by their mother from first grade until Taylor was in the tenth grade and Blake was in eighth. The Griffin brothers are bi-racial, their father being African-American and their mother white.Growing up, he was good friends with Sam Bradford, who currently plays for the St. Louis Rams and played on the same Athletes First AAU basketball team with Xavier Henry, now with the New Orleans Hornets. Griffin’s parents owned a trophy company that Bradford’s father would use and Bradford’s father owned a gym where Griffin and his brother Taylor played basketball.Apart from basketball, he also played baseball as a first baseman and football as a wide receiver, safety and a tight end.