On the latest Road Trippin’ podcast, the crew discussed John Wall’s retirement after 11 years in the association. During the segment, host Allie Clifton raised the question: Is the former Washington Wizard the most underrated superstar of the 2010s?
Channing Frye, who alongside Kendrick Perkins shared his opinion, made an interesting point. The retired seven-foot big man didn’t hesitate to praise Wall, but he ultimately settled on a different name.
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“I think John Wall’s great. I just think, to be underrated, that no one talks about — that was dynamic, that took the league over — is Blake Griffin,” said Frye.
The overlooked great
Frye spent 13 years in the NBA, with his greatest triumph coming in the mid-2010s. Back then, he was part of the 2016 championship-winning Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that also featured two stars often labeled underrated — Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love — who regularly played in the shadow of basketball icon LeBron James.
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Having witnessed that dynamic, Frye is well placed to speak on great players who never got the credit their play deserved, and for him, Griffin, retired since April 2024, fits that mold. The 40-year-old New York native explained that, unlike his former Cavs teammates, Blake wasn’t overshadowed by an all-time great but is severely underrated for different reasons.
The first point Channing made is that too often, when Blake’s six-time All-Star career gets discussed, it is reduced to his time with the Los Angeles Clippers under Doc Rivers — a team viewed as “underachieving at times,” partly because they squandered a 3–1 series lead to the Houston Rockets in the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals.
However, as Frye put it, a closer look at Griffin’s 13-year journey in the league, particularly his run with the Detroit Pistons, reveals that the 2011 Rookie of the Year was a “problem” — one that far more NBA fans should recognize.
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Griffin’s forgotten Detroit resurgence
Griffin landed in Detroit in January 2018 after the Clippers, convinced they couldn’t get much more out of the 2009 top pick, traded him away. However, amid new surroundings, the Oklahoma native proved those doubts wrong. He flourished, and the stats tell the tale.
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In his first full season (2018–19) with the Pistons, who reached the postseason after a two-year drought, Griffin averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists, some of the best numbers of his career. Even more impressive, he — rather unexpectedly — expanded his range, attempting a career-high seven 3-pointers per game and connecting at a solid 36.2 percent.
The league recognized his resurgence with an All-Star nod. Yet, as Frye points out, many have forgotten about Griffin’s heroics in Detroit, leaving the former 6’9 forward, in his opinion, severely underrated.
“Nobody remembers him (Griffin) in Detroit, where he was an All-Star. He was cooking… him as a person and as a player was a problem, and then when he evolved that little jab-step glass-bank shot, where you couldn’t give him some space — then it got even worse,” said Channing.
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Ultimately, the Frye has a point. Too often, talented players from small-market teams go unrecognized. Griffin, who remained with the Pistons until 2021, a team long past its glory days, was exactly in that position.
Yet one could argue that it was precisely the fact that Blake was away from the headlines and pressure that allowed him to play freely and dominate as he ultimately did.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.