AJ Griffin beating father Adrian Griffin’s Raptors is awkward

Toronto Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin experienced just about every emotion one could go through in an NBA game. While he was trying to push the Raptors to a victory against the Atlanta Hawks, he was also watching his son AJ Griffin have one of his best games as a pro.

Griffin scored 17 points in 30 minutes as the Hawks managed to overcome Scottie Barnes’ best game of the season and a surprisingly excellent showing from Thad Young with a 124-122 overtime victory. Toronto fell to 9-8 on the season, and Griffin is to blame.

The ending of this game was so improbable it sounds like it came out of Hollywood. Trae Young found a wide-open Griffin, who finished off a layup that sunk Toronto’s ship. On any other night, AJ’s father would be thrilled that his highly-touted son made such an impactful play.

Last night, however, Adrian had to reconcile his pride in his son with the fact that he just got beat. We hope that making this layup and winning this game against your old man was worth all the awkward stares across the Christmas dinner table, AJ!

AJ Griffin beat dad Adrian Griffin and the Toronto Raptors.

Both members of the Griffin family are thriving right now. Despite playing on a contending team with tons of veterans, AJ, who was picked 16th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, has managed to score 7.7 points per game with some solid shooting percentages. The former top recruit has been living up to the hype in Atlanta.

Not only is his father still the top assistant on one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, but he is inching closer to a head coaching opportunity. While Griffin wasn’t hired last offseason, he did interview for the Jazz and Lakers vacancies before they were given to Will Hardy and Darvin Ham, respectively.

After the game, father and son managed to catch up before the Raptors got on their team bus. The younger Griffin was quoted as saying that he couldn’t even “finish the words” when asked to describe his emotions after the game-winner, saying that the moment “speaks for itself.

There have been a few instances of fathers coaching against their sons in the NBA, with names like Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Austin Rivers suiting up against Mike Sr. and 76ers coach Doc Rivers. If both Griffins can follow the example these families set, Adrian will be a head coach and AJ will have a long career in this league.