Los Angeles Clippers: Ranking 10 best big men of all-time
By Tom West
2nd place – Blake Griffin (PF)
Clippers per game averages: 35.3 minutes, 21.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 0.6 blocks.
Clippers totals: 6 seasons (2010-11 — missed what would have been his rookie year due to injury — to now), 410 games, 8,801 points, 3,927 rebounds, 1,654 assists, 397 steals, 246 blocks, 52.1 field goal percentage.
Honors with Clippers: Rookie of the Year (2010-11), 5x All-Star (2010-11 to 2014-15), 4x All-NBA 2nd team (2011-12 to 2013-14), 1x All-NBA 3rd team (2014-15).
Longevity. That’s what makes Blake Griffin such a close call to being the best big men in Los Angeles Clippers history, losing 1st place to the only league MVP the team has had.
With what Blake’s achieved already in terms of personal accolades, statistical production, versatile skill, leading playoff charges, and his career trajectory, though, Griffin is well on the way to jumping one spot higher on this list.
But, for now, Griffin is in 2nd place. And what a 2nd place talent he is.
The Clippers have never had a big man with such a combination of athleticism, ball handling, passing and post play, and Griffin combines it all in one powerhouse of explosiveness. He’s come such a long way since his rookie season with limited range and 17.6 percent of his field goal attempts coming as dunks.
Yet, even at that lower level, he became the Rookie of the Year and an All-Star in 2010-11, averaging 22.5 points and a career-high 12.1 rebounds per game.
He was that good at 21 years old.
If you’ve been paying attention to the Clippers in recent years and you’ve watched Griffin play at all (essentially, so you know that he doesn’t just dunk), you’ll be aware of how much skill he has now. He can run the fastbreak, serve as the quarterback of an offense in half court sets, play from the post or operate from mid-range, and terrorize his opponents with his athleticism all over the court.
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The 2015 playoffs were perhaps the best showcasing of Griffin’s versatile talents that we’ve seen. Leading the Clippers past the San Antonio Spurs alongside Chris Paul and into the second round against Houston, Griffin was unbelievable. He averaged 25.5 points on 51.1 percent shooting, 12.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game.
If the team had a bench and he wasn’t so exhausted, maybe they could have closed the deal against the Rockets and made the Conference Finals.
In a comeback effort in 2016-17, primed to bounce back and resume at the best level of his career when fully healthy again, Griffin will look to replicate that kind of performance in next year’s playoffs.
To start last season he wasn’t too far off either, recording 23.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and five assists per game prior to his injury at Christmas.
At 27, Griffin has climbed high in franchise history already thanks to such immediate production as a rookie. He ranks 5th in points (8,801), 4th in points per game (21.5), 8th in rebounds per game (9.6), 4th in PER (22.8), 3rd in offensive win shares (36.7) and 4th in overall win shares (54.7).
Just think how incredible his numbers will be if he stays with the Los Angeles Clippers until he retires.
Next: 1st place - The Clippers' only league MVP