Top 100 NBA Players: #71 - Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin has only played 6 seasons so far in his short career, but he has already compiled some impressive achievements, which is why he has already risen to #71 on the list of all time greats. He was the #1 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, but missed his entire rookie season after fracturing his kneecap in the final game of the preseason.

When he finally made his debut in 2010, it was worth the wait. He was voted to the All-Star team by the coaches, the first rookie so honored since Tim Duncan 13 years earlier. He also reached 40 points in a game twice during the season, becoming the first rookie since Allen Iverson to achieve that. He was the unanimous Rookie of the Year, which hadn't happened in 21 years, and was last achieved by David Robinson. He also had 27 straight double-doubles during the season, the first rookie to do so in 43 years, and Sports Illustrated named it one of the 15 greatest rookie seasons of all time. Here are his numbers from that season:

Griffin (2011) - 22.5 pts, 12.1 reb, 3.8 ast, .506 FG%, .642 FT%

Griffin has been very consistent throughout his career, averaging at least 20 points per game 5 times in 6 seasons and at least 8 rebounds per game 5 times as well. His biggest failing so far is that he has not yet reached the Conference Finals, but he came close in 2015, when he had his best overall playoff performance in 14 games against the Spurs and Rockets. Here are his overall stats from those series:

Griffin (2015) - 25.5 pts, 12.7 reb, 6.1 ast, .511 FG%, .717 FT%

Those stats were all improvements over improvements over his regular season numbers, other than free throws, which were one point lower. The Clippers may have fallen to Houston in Game 7, but without Griffin they wouldn't have even gotten there. With a little more playoff success, he could have risen higher, but he's not doing to badly for a 26-year-old with plenty of good years ahead.