For those of you that haven’t already heard, Blake Griffin is an All Star. It comes on the same night that the Clipper forward loses his hold on this season’s high scoring performance (LeBron scored 51), but I doubt that it makes much difference to him. He’s the Clippers second consecutive selection (Kaman last year), and the first time a Clipper Rookie has ever earned the honor.
While there was much debate on whether Blake would accomplish the feat, Blake finally edged out a number of other players having quality seasons, including Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Zach Randolph, Steve Nash, David West, Kevin Martin and Monta Ellis.
It hasn’t been the style of the NBA coaches to award a player with a selection when they’ve been on a winning team (the only reason to leave off Kevin Love), nor has it been consistent to even give a selection to a rookie (the last being Yao Ming), but Blake managed to overcome both those obstacles by his astounding play mixed with spectacle and the leadership to change a previously toxic culture.
Congratulations, Blake.
