Griffin spent 17 seasons with the Phoenix Suns, beginning with an internship with the team's public relations department in 1993 while he was still a student at Arizona State University. He was hired as a full-time media relations assistant after three years as an intern. Being noticed by Jerry Colangelo and then-coach Danny Ainge for his detailed notes for the media, Griffin joined the team's basketball operations side via the video department in 1997. He spent his last three years in the club as senior vice president of basketball operations after being named to the position in June 2007.
Cleveland Cavaliers
In September 2010, Griffin was named vice president of basketball operations for the Cleveland Cavaliers. On February 6, 2014, he was named the acting general manager for the Cavaliers, after the firing of Chris Grant from that position. In his first trade since becoming acting GM, Griffin traded forward Earl Clark, center Henry Sims, and draft picks to the Philadelphia 76ers for center Spencer Hawes. On May 12, 2014, the Cavaliers announced that Griffin would be named as permanent, full-time general manager. In the following weeks after being named permanent GM, Griffin brought in Euroleague Champion and Coach of the YearDavid Blatt as head coach, drafted Andrew Wiggins with the number one pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, signed LeBron James back four years after the infamous "Decision", and acquired All-Star forward Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a trade. In order to acquire Love, Griffin gave Wiggins and former 1st overall pick Anthony Bennett to the Wolves. As a result of these moves and many others, Griffin placed second in the NBA Executive of the Year Award voting for the 2014–15 season. Griffin and the Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA Finals after defeating the 73-win Golden State Warriors in seven games, becoming the first team in league history to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the Finals. Griffin's Cavaliers set offensive records in the 2017 playoffs, setting a playoff scoring efficiency record by scoring 120 points per 100 possessions, but ultimately lost in five games in the 2017 Finals to a revamped Warriors team that added Kevin Durant to their 73-win core. On June 19, 2017, both Griffin and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert announced that they would not renew their contract together after no agreement between the two sides could be reached. His position would ultimately be replaced by the Cavaliers' assistant general manager, Koby Altman, over a month later on July 24. Gilbert was widely criticized for failing to come to terms on a new contract with Griffin. For a Sports illustrated article released Thursday August 1, 2019, David Griffin expressed in detail his experience working with and building a supporting cast of team members around LeBron James. He described the ordeal and time in Cleveland doing so as "miserable" and elaborating how "he privately wept the night the Cavaliers won the title, saying he was so obsessed with winning that he "didn't love the game anymore."
New Orleans Pelicans
On April 17, 2019, the New Orleans Pelicans named Griffin as the executive vice president of basketball operations. Griffin represented the Pelicans during the 2019 NBA draft lottery, where they selected Zion Williamson.
Personal life
Griffin is originally from Phoenix, Arizona, and now resides in Sonoma, California with his wife Meredith. Griffin was raised by a single mother in a Maryvale neighborhood of lower middle-class West Phoenix. He has a younger brother Daniel and he went to the Jesuit-run Brophy Prep for high school. He had three bouts with testicular cancer– in 2006, 2011 and 2017. In between the Cleveland and New Orleans stints, Griffin appeared frequently on NBA TV and hosted a weekly Sirius XM radio show called ‘Deals and Dunks’ with Pelicans broadcaster Joel Meyers as co-host.
