Blake Griffin's retirement from professional basketball in 2024 was less a dramatic exit than a quiet acknowledgment that knees have memories and his had seen enough. What comes after a decade-plus of dunking for millions is the question every athlete must answer, and Griffin appears to have settled on an answer that involves Malibu real estate, a swimwear entrepreneur, and the particular social calendar of Los Angeles's wellness-adjacent elite.
The former Clipper and Net has been spotted repeatedly with Francesca Aiello, the 28-year-old founder and creative director of Frankies Bikinis, the swimwear brand that has become a uniform for a certain kind of Instagram-native celebrity. Aiello launched the company at 19 from her parents' garage in Malibu—a founding myth so perfectly Californian it practically comes with a golden hour filter—and has since dressed everyone from Hailey Bieber to Sofia Richie. The brand was acquired by Authentic Brands Group in 2022, though Aiello retained her creative role.
The athlete-founder pairing
Griffin, now 37, has spent his post-playing years building a surprisingly credible comedy career—he hosted the ESPYs, appeared on Inside the NBA, and has a production company that develops scripted content. His comedic timing, which teammates noted for years, turns out to translate. Aiello, meanwhile, represents the founder class of influencer-entrepreneurs who built actual businesses rather than just lending their names to products.
The pairing makes a certain demographic sense. Both operate in the overlap between entertainment, commerce, and the specific social world of people who attend Art Basel and know multiple wellness practitioners by first name. Griffin's previous high-profile relationship with Kendall Jenner in 2017-2018 placed him firmly in that orbit; Aiello has been there since launching a swimwear line as a teenager.
What retirement looks like now
The modern athlete retirement has become its own genre. Some go the broadcast route, some launch venture funds, some disappear entirely. Griffin's version—comedy, production, and dating someone who runs a business rather than someone who is primarily famous—suggests a man who has thought about what comes next. His injury-plagued final seasons, bouncing from Detroit to Brooklyn to Boston, gave him time to consider the question.
Aiello's Frankies Bikinis, meanwhile, continues its expansion into ready-to-wear and activewear, part of the swimwear-brand-to-lifestyle-brand pipeline that has become standard. The company reportedly generates over $100 million in annual revenue, making Aiello one of the more successful founders in the influencer-to-entrepreneur category.
Our take
There is something almost reassuring about Blake Griffin's post-basketball life. No cryptocurrency endorsements, no desperate attempts to stay relevant through controversy, just a man with bad knees, good comic timing, and a girlfriend who makes swimsuits. The athlete-to-creative-class pipeline is well-worn, but Griffin appears to be walking it with more self-awareness than most. Whether the relationship lasts is anyone's guess—these things rarely do—but as second acts go, it beats the alternative of lingering too long on a roster that no longer needs you.
