Boston, which finished with a 61-21 record and secured the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed, is looking to become the first team to successfully defend its championship since the Kevin Durant-era Golden State Warriors achieved the feat in 2018.

During a new episode of ex-NFL stars Ryan Fitzpatrick and Andrew Whitworth’s podcast “Fitz & Whit,” Griffin made his postseason predictions for the NBA this season.

“Honestly, man, East is easy for me. I think it’s Boston” that will emerge out of the conference, Griffin said. “I think Cleveland’s had a great year and all that, but Boston is like, they’re unbelievable.”

When it comes to the Western Conference, Griffin shouted out another of his former franchises, the L.A. Clippers, as having a shot at advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time ever.

Griffin went on to explain why Boston was so impressive.

“Look at the Boston Celtics,” Griffin said. “They have two absolute superstars, and they have five really good players around them, and they all buy in to defense.”

Griffin is referring to his old comrades, All-Star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, as the aforementioned “absolute superstars.” They’re surrounded by former All-Stars Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and an aging Al Horford, plus two-time All-Defensive Team guard Derrick White and Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner Payton Pritchard.

“The era of, ‘Let’s just go get three [All-Star] guys and then we’ll just fill it in with minimum contracts,’ that doesn’t work anymore,” Griffin added, by way of explanation for why the Phoenix Suns’ botched “Big Three” of All-Stars Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal (well, a former All-Star in Beal’s case) failed to even make the playoffs this season.

The Celtics model has been a paragon of modern success, and deservedly so. Tatum, 27, and Brown, 28, are the suns around which their teammates revolve. It’s worked out pretty well so far.