Blake Griffin
To preface this article, this is currently Blake Griffin’s rookie season as the NBA also considers it that for him given he missed all of last season with a stress fracture.
All of that aside, Blake Griffin – well – isn’t human as far as I’m concerned. Ok, yes, he is human, but the way he plays and the effect he’s had thus far is unreal and, by the numbers, unprecedented. Moreover, the Staples Center is used to being filled near capacity… when the Lakers play. The Clippers have fallen under such pseudonyms as the other team or the jv team among other negative nicknames.
Enter Blake Griffin.
Now the Clippers fill the arena, now the Clippers aren’t just another team, now the Clippers are a team worth watching. This is almost completely due Griffin’s arrival in Los Angeles. The 6’10″ stud has singlehandedly become a marketable name in less than one full season. ESPN has recently included “Blake Griffin Alerts” in their highlight reels in regards to Griffin explosively dunking the basketball yet again given that it’s become a common occurrence.
Yes, the Clippers are still 16 ½ games under .500, but people want to see the Clippers and what does this generate? Money is the basis for everything in sports, cynical but true. On a brighter note, their has been a growing trend in the NBA where stars are willing to share the spotlight for a greater goal (see Miami and Boston). However, the commonality between most NBA stars revolves around how much money they can make and which teams are willing to pay such wages. Regardless, success can be bought – to a degree, and Blake Griffin is drawing viewers, selling tickets and bringing more out of his teammates. The aging Baron Davis has stated that he hasn’t been this excited to play in some time and every game, in some form or another, Griffin ends up momentarily taking flight and soaring towards the rim, shortly throwing the ball through the rim thereafter.
Blake Griffin added to his growing résumé by not only being the first rookie since Yao Ming to start in an all-star game, but also, in no subtle manner, winning the dunk contest by a landslide fan vote. Blake Griffin has become a household name. His name echoes in and out of every basketball highlight reel and his name is known to even those casual fans who can list LeBron, Kobe, and maybe a handful of other players. What’s he’s doing for the Clippers franchise, much less every team he plays on the road against, is generating a ton of revenue and, in that, breathing life into a once forsaken “other” franchise placed in Los Angeles. He will have a lasting effect, whether he becomes an NBA icon in years to come, whether he draws other stars to the Clippers or even if the team offloads him to help build the franchise. Wherever he goes, cameras, lots of cameras, will follow.
This is only the beginning of what looks to be an exciting, entertaining, storied career. He is the future of the NBA.
