Blake Griffin Unanimously Voted Rookie of the Year

The top NBA awards continue to roll out, with today's announcement that Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers was unanimously voted as the 2010-11 NBA Rookie of the Year. Griffin was actually drafted out of Oklahoma in 2009, but suffered a season ending injury during the 2009 preseason. Under the rules of NBA stat-keeping, he was not considered a rookie until he played his first regular season game. In his first season in the NBA, Griffin has averaged 22.5 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 3.8 APG, 0.5 Blocks per Game, 0.8 Steals per Game, won the Dunk Contest, and already participated in his first NBA All-Star Game.


Although there has been some debate, mostly by people on other teams, whether or not Griffin had some kind of advantage for having watched NBA players play games for an entire season up close before the other rookies did, the fact of the matter is that none of the other rookies even came close to Griffin's level. Blake Griffin also managed to renew interest in the Los Angeles Clippers franchise, a team that has had zero relevance since it went deeper in the playoffs than the Lakers did one year when Kobe was leading the Lakers to the playoffs single-handedly.

Hopefully the Clippers can make some more impressive moves during the offseason, because the Clippers through their trades and performance this year, have become a hotter destination for free agents. Yes, they aren't the Lakers, but it's still LA and Staples Center, and you get to play with Blake Griffin.