The Liga de Fútbol Profesional established, in the 2008–09 season, the LFP Awards, the first official awards in the history of the competition in Spain.

A technical committee selects three players in each position — goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, attacking midfielder, and striker, plus the breakthrough player. Later, the current managers choose the winners among these finalists. The active players vote for the Best Player and Best Manager awards, while the fans vote for the Fair Play award through the Federation of Peñas.

Winners[link]

;2008–09 season

!	!Winner	!Runner-up
Best Player		-
Best Coach		-
Best Goalkeeper		Diego López (Villarreal) and Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Best Defender		Gerard Piqué (FC Barcelona
Best Midfielder		[[Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid C.F.
Best Attacking Midfielder		[[Santi Cazorla (Villarreal CF
Best Forward
Breakthrough Player		[[Apoño (
!	!Winner	!Runner-up
Best Player		-
Best Coach		-
Best Goalkeeper
Best Defender		[[Sergio Ramos">Málaga CF
BBVA Fair Play award

;2010–11 Season

!	!Winner	!Runner-up
Best Player		-
Best Coach		-
Best Goalkeeper
Best Defender		Real Madrid) and Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Best Midfielder
Best Attacking Midfielder		Mesut Özil (Real Madrid C.F.
Best Forward
Breakthrough Player	[[Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao)	Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad) and See also[link] [[Trofeo Alfredo Di Stéfano">Rubén Pérez del Mármol
BBVA Fair Play award

See also[link]

[[Trofeo Alfredo Di Stéfano

Don Balón Award

Pichichi Trophy

Zarra Trophy

Ricardo Zamora Trophy

Miguel Muñoz Trophy

References[link]

Category:La Liga Category:Spanish football trophies and awards

es:Premios LFP it:Premi LFP

name	Michael Coren
influences	Thomas More, C. S. Lewis, Ronald Knox
birth name	Michael Coren
birth date	January 15, 1959
birth place	Essex, England, United Kingdom
occupation	Author, journalist
nationality	United Kingdom, Canada
alma mater	University of Nottingham
religion	Christian, Roman Catholic
movement	Traditionalist conservatism
notableworks	''As I See It'', ''C.S. Lewis: The Man Who Created Narnia'', ''Why Catholics Are Right'', ''J.R.R. Tolkien: The Man Who Created the Lord of the Rings''
website	http://www.michaelcoren.com/}}

Michael Coren (born January 15, 1959) is an English-Canadian columnist, author, public speaker, radio host and television talk show host. He hosted the television talk show ''The Michael Coren Show'' on the Crossroads Television System from 1999 to 2011 when he moved to the Sun News Network to host an evening talk show, ''The Arena with Michael Coren''. He has also been a long-time radio personality, particularly on CFRB radio.

He has written more than ten books, including biographies of G.K. Chesterton, H. G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, and C. S. Lewis. His latest book, ''Why Catholics are Right'', was published in 2011.

Life and career[link]

Coren was born in Essex, England. After obtaining a degree in politics from Nottingham University, he moved from the UK to Canada in 1987. For several years, he was a columnist for ''Frank'' and then ''The Globe and Mail'', before he began syndicated columns for the ''Financial Post'' and Sun Media in 1995. Following his departure from ''Frank'', he became a favourite target of that publication, culminating in a spoof ad contest to "deflower" Michael Coren (a nod to ''Frank'''s notorious "Deflower Caroline Mulroney" contest, and a satirical jab at Coren's conservative leanings.) Coren had also been a favorite target of ''Frank'' back in the days before he began writing for them. Coren took exception to being labelled a "literary prostitute" during a 1994 interview.

His career as a broadcaster began in the early 1990s when he co-hosted a political debate segment with Irshad Manji on TVOntario's ''Studio 2''. In 1995, he began an evening talk show on CFRB. In 1999, Coren briefly moved to Talk 640 for a short stint as its morning man. He returned to CFRB, where he hosted a show from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. weekday nights, and regularly filled in for other hosts until November 2005. Coren was dismissed by CFRB as a result of complaints arising from comments ridiculing the weight of an apparent guest. In fact, the guest was an actor and the segment was scripted. According to CFRB's Operations Manager, Steve Kowch, "Pat Holiday, our general manager and myself went through the tape of Monday night's show and were shocked....it was totally out of bounds." Coren argues that it was a satire comparing in his mind public attitude to third world starvation with North America's obsession with slimming and self-indulgence.

Despite this acrimonious termination, Coren made regular talk show appearances on CFRB in July 2006, at the start of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, as he happened to be in Israel at the time. After receiving 60% approval from CFRB listeners in an August 2006 poll, Coren returned to the CFRB airwaves in September 2006 with a Sunday evening show. As of the 22nd of April 2007, the show expanded from its usual 1 hour 7-8pm to 7-9 pm. Coren celebrated by giving away double the prizes usually given out. In the fall of 2007 he and former Liberal Party of Canada president Stephen LeDrew launched a daily hour-long afternoon show on CFRB called ''Two Bald Guys With Strong Opinions'' in which the two argue about the issues of the day. After the departure of LeDrew, Coren was joined by Tarek Fatah after several on air auditions by potential replacement co-hosts. Coren was again let go by CFRB along with 12 other staff of the Toronto radio station on 27 August 2009.

On television, Coren hosted the ''Michael Coren Show'' on the Crossroads Television System until June 2011 when he left to join the Sun News Network where he hosts ''The Arena with Michael Coren'' weeknights on beginning August 30, 2011. Coren also has a newspaper column published every Saturday in the Sun newspaper chain. He has been a columnist for the ''Western Standard'', ''Catholic Insight'' and ''The Women's Post'' and has contributed to ''National Post'', ''Reader's Digest'' and several other publications. A self-professed Tottenham Hotspur fan, he has appeared as a guest host on The Score's ''The Footy Show''. Coren is also a public speaker, particularly at religious gatherings.

Political controversies[link]

In his earlier, satirical ''Aesthete'' column in ''Frank'' magazine Coren was by his own admission deliberately provocative. In response to a 1994 interview question about AIDS he responded:

:"Look, people are dying all over. When it was blacks in Africa dying of AIDS, no one gave a toss. Nobody gave a toss. Suddenly, it's middleclass men in California and everyone goes crazy about it. It's a double standard. I'm trying to provoke people into rethinking comfortable points of view."

In September 2006, Coren published an article in the ''Toronto Sun'', supporting the use of tactical nuclear strikes against Iran. This position was later retracted.

On the subject of AIDS Michael Coren wrote a column in 2006 titled "Why is AIDS so special?" in which he said "At its most simple, stop fornicating." "AIDS in the West is still overwhelmingly a threat to male homosexuals and intravenous drug users."

In an article which appeared in ''Sun Media'' in 2007, Coren said "As for Jesus not condemning homosexuality, nor did He condemn bestiality and necrophilia."

Religious Views[link]

His articles and speeches often include stories of his own personal spiritual journey. Coren's father was Jewish as was his maternal grandfather, while his maternal grandmother came from a family of Welsh coalminers and converted to Judaism. Coren's father and uncle were cab drivers. Coren has said that his father's family left Poland a few decades before the Holocaust. He has also said that his father's family emigrated from Poland in the 1890s. He said "People have called me an anti-Semite. I thought it quite rich since my father's family was massacred in the Holocaust". Michael Coren was profiled on Credo, on Vision TV, and said that his father told him he could not attend his son's wedding in a Catholic Church without becoming "physically sick."

He converted to Roman Catholicism in his early twenties while still living in England, but that didn't last long. He said that he "converted to an institution." He eventually converted to Evangelical Christianity in the 1990s, after a conversion experience as an adult, greatly influenced by Canadian televangelist Terry Winter.

In 1991 Michael Coren said in a column for a humour magazine: "The evangelical Christians may be intolerant, small-minded, and repellent, but at least they hold a consistent set of beliefs".

In a 1993 book review he said "Can anyone imagine a detective priest? Regrettably, it is easier to conjure up the image of a priest being questioned by secular detectives over abuse charges." Also in 1993, Michael Coren had a falling out with the Catholic Church over an unflattering profile he wrote of Archbishop Aloysius Ambrozic for ''Toronto Life'' magazine. The Bishop, who made Coren a "Knight of the Holy Sepulchre" in a ceremony in October 1992, was quoted using words including "friggin" and "bitch", and said that Francisco Franco was a "conservative Roman Catholic and not a bad fellow." Coren defended himself, saying "He's an archbishop and he was vulgar...obviously what thousands of Roman Catholics expected me to do was lie. I still get hate mail about the article."

After this incident, Coren said that he didn't consider himself a Roman Catholic anymore. He said "My wife is Catholic and the children will be raised Catholic, but that's it. It's just not there for me." Daniel Richler observed that Coren loves scandal, but hates having it come his way. In one of his columns for the satirical humour magazine Frank, Michael Coren depicted Mother Teresa getting drunk in a bar.

In early 2004, he embraced Catholicism again. He cites St. Thomas More, C. S. Lewis, Ronald Knox and his godfather Lord Longford as spiritual influences, and remains connected to the ecumenical scene in Canada and beyond.

Published books[link]

''Theatre Royal: 100 Years of Stratford East'' (1985) ISBN 0-7043-2474-1

''Gilbert: The Man Who Was G.K. Chesterton'' (1990) ISBN 1-55778-256-3

''The Invisible Man: The Life and Liberties of H.G. Wells'' (1993) ISBN 0-689-12119-9

''The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'' (1993) ISBN 0-7475-1229-9

''The Man Who Created Narnia: The Story of C. S. Lewis'' (1994) ISBN 1-895555-78-7

''Setting It Right'' (1996) ISBN 0-7737-2940-2

''J.R.R.Tolkien: The Man who Created the Lord of the Rings'' (2001) ISBN 0-7522-6156-8

''As I See It'' (2009) ISBN 0-9812767-0-9

''Why Catholics Are Right'' (2011) ISBN 0-7710-2321-9

Awards[link]

Awards Michael Coren has won.

2005: The Ed Murrow Award for Broadcasting.

2006: The RTNDA Radio Broadcasting Award.

2007: The Communicator Award in Hollywood.

2008: the Omni TV Award.

References[link]

External links[link]

Official website

Michael Coren's blog

Coren's column in ''The Toronto Sun''

Category:1959 births Category:Alumni of the University of Nottingham Category:British expatriates in Canada Category:Canadian columnists Category:Canadian people of Jewish descent Category:Canadian pro-life activists Category:Canadian Roman Catholics Category:Canadian talk radio hosts Category:Canadian television talk show hosts Category:Converts to Christianity from Judaism Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Evangelicalism Category:Living people Category:People from Essex Category:Roman Catholic writers Category:The Globe and Mail columnists Category:National Post people

name | image	Blake Griffin 2.jpg
height ft	6
height in	10
weight lb	251
team	Los Angeles Clippers
number	32
position	Power Forward
birth date	March 16, 1989
birth place	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
high school	Oklahoma Christian School (Edmond, Oklahoma)
college	Oklahoma
nationality	American
draft round	1
draft pick	1
draft team	Los Angeles Clippers
draft year	2009
career start	2009
years1	–present | team1 Los Angeles Clippers
highlights	* NBA Rookie of the Year () 2× NBA All-Star (, ) All-NBA Second Team () NBA All-Rookie First Team () NBA Slam Dunk Champion () Adolph Rupp Trophy (2009) AP National Player of the Year (2009) John R. Wooden Men's Player of the Year Award (2009) NABC Player of the Year (2009) Naismith College Player of the Year (2009) Oscar Robertson Trophy (2009) Big 12 Player of the Year (2009)
nba profile	blake_griffin }}

Blake Austin Griffin (born March 16, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Griffin had a renowned high school career at Oklahoma Christian School, winning state titles each of his four years under his father, Tommy Griffin, who was the head coach. He played college basketball for the University of Oklahoma Sooners and was awarded numerous accolades in his second year including the Naismith College Player of the Year, Oscar Robertson Trophy and the John Wooden Award.

Griffin left college after two seasons to enter the 2009 NBA Draft where he was selected first overall by the Clippers. In his first season, he broke his left kneecap, which he injured during the final pre-season game, and underwent surgery missing the entire 2009–10 season. He made his NBA debut as a rookie the following season and was selected as an All-Star, won the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year. In 2011, ''Sports Illustrated'' ranked him as one of the NBA's 15 Greatest Rookies of All Time.

Early years[link]

Childhood[link]

Blake Griffin was born on March 16, 1989, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Tommy and Gail Griffin. His father was a basketball center and track standout at NAIA Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Griffin and his older brother, Taylor Griffin, were home-schooled by their mother from first grade until Taylor was in the tenth grade and Blake was in eighth. The Griffin brothers are bi-racial, their father being African-American and their mother White. Growing up, he was good friends with Sam Bradford, who currently plays for the St. Louis Rams and played on the same Athletes First AAU basketball team with Xavier Henry, now with the New Orleans Hornets. Griffin’s parents owned a trophy company that Bradford’s father would use and Bradford’s father owned a gym where Griffin and his brother Taylor played basketball. Apart from basketball, he also played baseball as a first baseman and football as a wide receiver, safety and a tight end.

High school[link]

After years of competing against his brother, Taylor, Griffin enrolled at Oklahoma Christian School in 2003, after Taylor. They played under their father, who was the head coach. They played together during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 high school seasons, winning two state high school basketball championships together. In his freshmen year, the Oklahoma Christian Saints posted a perfect 29–0 season and won the Class 3A boys state championship game held at the State Fair Arena against Riverside Indian School, 55–50. In his sophomore year, the Saints repeated as Class 3A state champions, defeating Sequoyah-Tahlequah 51–34, where he scored 12 points to go along with 9 rebounds. The team finished the season with a 24–2 record, with Griffin averaging 13.6 points per game. He was later named to the Little All-City All-State team in what was his final high school season with his brother. After his sophomore year, his brother accepted a scholarship to play college basketball for the University of Oklahoma Sooners. During the summer of 2005, he was a member of the Athletes First AAU team, where he played against Kevin Durant and Ty Lawson's AAU team, the DC Blue Devils.

During his junior season, the Oklahoma Christian basketball team was moved down to Class 2A from the Class 3A. As he began his third season with the Saints, he was quickly developing into a strong and athletic player, as he led the Saints to a third straight state championship, scoring 22 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocks, defeating Washington High School 57–40. He was named the state tournament MVP, and the Saints finished the season 27–1, with Griffin averaging 21.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists. For his efforts, he was named ''The Oklahoman'' Player of the Year and to the ''Tulsa World'' Boys All-State First Team. His play attracted the attention of the new basketball head coach for Oklahoma, Jeff Capel, who first heard of him through his brother Taylor. That spring, Capel saw him play for the first time and was impressed with his combination of size, strength and athleticism. Capel liked the fact that Griffin had not yet become a household name among recruiters and recruited him because he felt he was the player he needed to rebuild his tenure with the Oklahoma men's basketball program. He had been considering Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and Texas, but his brother eventually sold him on joining Oklahoma when he raved about the direction of the Sooners and the chance to play together again for his home state.

Griffin committed to Oklahoma before the start of his senior season and averaged 26.8 points, 15.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.9 blocks per game as a senior while leading the team to a 26–3 record. In a game against Oklahoma City Southeast, he finished with an eye-popping triple-double, 41 points, 28 rebounds, and 10 assists. The Saints advanced through the playoffs, defeating Crescent in the quarterfinals and Foyil in the semifinals to earned a berth in the Class 2A state championship. On March 10, 2007, he played his final high school game in the state title game against Pawnee High School. He registered 22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks, as the Saints defeated Pawnee 81–50, winning their fourth straight state title. He was named the Class 2A state tournament MVP for the second consecutive year after averaging 26.6 points per game in the tournament, winning its three games by an average of 30.3 points. During his four-year run, the Oklahoma Christian Saints posted a 106–6 overall record.

Griffin was named the Player of the Year by both the ''Tulsa World'' and ''The Oklahoman'' and named a Oklahoma Boys All-State First Team, EA Sports All-American Second Team and a ''Parade'' Third Team All-American. He was ranked as the nation's #13 high school senior by HoopScoop, #20 by scout.com and #23 by rivals.com, and as the country's third-best power forward by HoopScoop, sixth by rivals.com and the seventh by scout.com. Additionally, he was the Gatorade Oklahoma Player of the Year and was selected to the McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand All-America teams. At the McDonald's All-American game in Louisville, Kentucky he won the Powerade Jam Fest slam dunk contest.

College career[link]

Griffin was one of the highest rated and most decorated recruits ever at Oklahoma. As a freshman at Oklahoma, he averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds in 28.4 minutes per game and led the Sooners to a 23–12 record. He ranked ninth in scoring, fourth in rebounding and third in field goal percentage in the Big 12 Conference. In a game against the Kansas Jayhawks, he suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee five minutes into the Sooners game. Less than two months after injuring his left knee, he injured his right knee in a home victory against Texas A&M;. The injury this time was torn cartilage, and he had arthroscopic surgery on March 2, 2008. He missed the following game, a victory over in-state rival Oklahoma State Cowboys, but was back on the court a week after the injury with 14 points and 8 rebounds in 28 minutes versus the Missouri Tigers, a win for the Sooners on their home floor. He was a first-team all-district pick by the USBWA and NABC, and was named to the Big 12 All-Rookie Team and to the first-team All-Big 12 selection by league coaches and Associated Press. He became the first Sooner to make the conference All-Rookie team since Wayman Tisdale in 1983 for the Big Eight Conference. He was expected to be a lottery pick in the 2008 NBA Draft but decided to return to college for a second season to give himself time to mature physically and make Oklahoma a contender for the NCAA championship.

In his sophomore season, the Sooners started out the season winning their first 12 games before falling to the Arkansas Razorbacks. In the third game of the season against the Davidson Wildcats, he scored 25 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, after which he scored 35 points and 21 rebounds against Gardner–Webb, becoming the first player in Big 12 history to record back-to-back games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. This earned him three consecutive Big 12 player of the week honor and finished the season with a record-tying six player of the week honors. In a home victory against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, he set career bests for both points and rebounds with 40 points and 23 rebounds, becoming the only player in Big 12 history and the third player in the history of the University of Oklahoma men's basketball program to score 40 points and get 20 rebounds in the same game, joining Wayman Tisdale (61 points and 22 rebounds in 1983) and Alvan Adams (43 points and 25 rebounds in 1975).

On February 21, he received a concussion in a loss to the Texas Longhorns, when he caught an inadvertent shot to the face from the open hand of Texas center Dexter Pittman. He sat out the second half during the Sooners loss with a bloody nose. It was the Sooners' first loss of their conference schedule for the season. After sitting out the next game, a loss to Kansas Jayhawks, he was cleared by the medical staff and returned a week later to get 20 points and 19 rebounds in a victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Oklahoma finished second in the conference with a 13–3 record but fell short in the first game of the Big 12 Tournament to the Oklahoma State Cowboys. In the "Big Dance", Oklahoma was seeded No. 2 in the South Region with a 27–5 record. In the second-round win over the Michigan Wolverines, he scored 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, just the second player in the 2000s decade with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in the NCAA tournament. However, the Sooners lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the South Regional final.

Griffin averaged 22.7 points, 14.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game during the regular season and earned All-American First Team honors. He led the Big 12 in scoring and rebounds, and recorded at least 20 points and 15 rebounds 15 times, which is a Big 12 record. He also set school and Big 12 single-season records for most rebounds (504), rebounding average (14.4), and double-doubles (30), and his free throw attempts (324) were the most by a Sooner in a single-season. With 30 double-doubles during the season, he was one short of the NCAA record of 31 set by David Robinson in 1986–1987. His total of 504 rebounds were the most in a season by an NCAA Division I player since Indiana State's Larry Bird had 505 in 1978–79 and his rebounding average of 14.4 was the highest since Wake Forest's Tim Duncan averaged 14.7 in 1996–97.

For his sophomore year performance, Griffin swept all six of the national player of the year awards. He was a unanimous choice by voters in all nine geographical districts for the Oscar Robertson Trophy and was named Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year, receiving 66 of the 71 national media panel members' votes. Griffin was announced as the winner of the prestigious Naismith College Player of the Year on April 5 in Detroit. Three days after announcing that he would turn pro, he won the John Wooden Award as college basketball's top player. He became the first Oklahoma player in school history to win the Naismith Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy, Adolph Rupp Trophy, John Wooden Award and the Associated Press player of the year. He was also named Player of the Year by the Big 12, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News and FoxSports.com.

College statistics[link]

33 35 68

College !! Year	! GP !! GS !! MIN !! PPG !! RPG !! APG !! SPG !! BPG !! FG%!! FT%!! 3P%
Oklahoma	2007–08	33	|	28.4	14.7	9.1	1.8	1.0	.85	.568	.589	.0
Oklahoma	2008–09	35	|	33.3	22.7	14.4	2.3	1.1	1.2	.646	.590	.375
Career	68	|	31.4	18.8	11.8	2.1	1.0	1.05	.618	.589	.300

NBA career[link]

Los Angeles Clippers (2009–present)[link]

2009–10: Injured season[link]

On April 7, 2009, Griffin announced that he would give up his final two years of eligibility and declared for the NBA Draft after his sophomore year. A press conference announcing his decision was aired nationally on ESPNews. He was selected as the first overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009 NBA Draft. Griffin played for the Clippers' Summer League Team and was named Summer League MVP. In their final preseason game, he injured his kneecap as he landed after a dunk. The day before the 2009–10 season started it was confirmed that Griffin had a stress fracture in his left knee, delaying his NBA debut for seven weeks. After resting the stress fracture for several weeks, tests revealed that his knee was not recovering properly. In January 2010, Griffin had surgery on his broken left kneecap, missing the entire 2009–10 season. In the off season Griffin spent a great deal of time working out with a San Francisco-based trainer.

2010–11: Rookie of the Year and Rookie All-Star[link]

Since he missed the entire 2009–10 season, Griffin was still considered a rookie during the 2010–11 season. In his debut for the Clippers against the Portland Trail Blazers, Griffin scored 20 points and registered 14 rebounds. He set a franchise record for most consecutive double-doubles with 23 in a home game against the Golden State Warriors. His streak of consecutive double-doubles was the longest rookie double-double streak since 1968, which ended at 27 games on January 19 in a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves where he scored 29 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. On January 17, 2011 against the Indiana Pacers, Griffin scored a career-high and set a Clippers record for most points scored by a rookie with 47 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. He became the first rookie to have two 40+ games in his rookie season since Allen Iverson during the 1996–97 season.

Griffin was voted to the 2011 NBA All-Star Game by coaches as a reserve on the Western Conference squad, becoming the first rookie to play in the All-Star game since Yao Ming in 2003 and the first rookie voted to the game by coaches since Tim Duncan in 1998. He also participated in the 2011 Rookie Challenge and won the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star break. On March 23, 2011, in a double overtime win over the Washington Wizards, Griffin recorded his first career triple-double, 33 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, and recorded his second triple-double with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, in the final game of the season against the Memphis Grizzlies.

During the season, he captured all six of the Western Conference T-Mobile Rookie of the Month, the first time a rookie has swept an entire season of Rookie of the Month awards since Chris Paul during the 2005–06 season. He played in all 82 regular season games and became the first rookie to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds since Elton Brand did it in the 1999–00 season. He led all rookies in points, rebounds and double-doubles, earning him the Rookie of the Year award, and was the first unanimous winner for the award since David Robinson in 1990. He was also the only unanimous selection to the All-Rookie First Team. In October 2011 Griffin was rated the 10th best player in the NBA by ESPN and the collective TrueHoop Network.

2011–12 First playoff appearance[link]

Griffin was voted to play as a starter for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game, along with teammate Chris Paul. He was also selected to participate in the Rising Stars Challenge. Griffin was selected as the #1 pick for Team Shaq, which was a mix of rookies and sophomores. In the first round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, Griffin helped the Clippers eliminate the Memphis Grizzles in a game 7.

Player profile[link]

Standing at , Griffin is a power forward. In his rookie year, he averaged 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game, becoming just the 20th rookie in NBA history to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds a game in the shot clock era. He has established himself as a difficult player to defend, proving to be highly effective coming off the pick and roll, attacking the basket off the dribble, or in the post. His exceptional leaping and ability to establish position down low allowed him to finish in the top 5 in rebounding during his rookie season. Griffin's rookie season was highlighted by countless spectacular dunks; this prowess for dunking culminated in his winning the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest.

In addition to his athleticism, Griffin has proven himself to be a well rounded big man with above average skills in ball handling and passing. Rob Mahoney, in a January 2011 post in the ''New York Times'' basketball blog, singled out Griffin's playmaking abilities stating, "The overtly dominant aspects of Griffin’s play have made him one of the season’s greatest delights, but his game clearly stretches beyond the scoring and rebounding columns... his passing aptitude should serve as a reminder of the substance in his game. The dunks are great, but it’s his multiple-layered impact that has paved his early road to stardom." Griffin's weaknesses remain his jump shooting and free throw shooting, which stands at 59.3% following the conclusion of his second season.

NBA career statistics[link]

Regular season[link]

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Clippers | 82 || 82 || 38.0 || .506 || .292 || .642 || 12.1 || 3.8 || .8 || .5 || 22.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011–12 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Clippers | 66 || 66 || 36.3 || .549 || .125 || .521 || 10.9 || 3.2 || .8 || .7 || 20.7 |-class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" | Career | 148 || 148 || 37.3 || .524 || .225 || .593 || 11.5 || 3.5 || .8 || .6 || 21.7 |-class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" | All-Star | 2 || 1 || 23.0 || .722 || .500 || .500 || 6.5 || 4.0 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 15.0

Playoffs[link]

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011–12 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Clippers | 11 || 11 || 35.7 || .500 || .000 || .636 || 6.9 || 2.5 || 1.8 || .9 || 19.1 |-class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" | Career | 11 || 11 || 35.7 || .500 || .000 || .636 || 6.9 || 2.5 || 1.8 || .9 || 19.1 |-

Career highs[link]

Regular season[link]

! Stat	! High	! Opponent	! Date
Points	47	vs. Indiana
Offensive rebounds	9	vs. Portland
Defensive rebounds	16	vs. Detroit
Total rebounds	20	vs. San Antonio
Assists	10	vs. Washington
Assists	10	vs. Memphis

Awards and honors[link]

NBA[link]

NBA Rookie of the Year: 2011

NBA All-Star: 2011, 2012

All-NBA Second Team: 2012

NBA Slam Dunk Champion: 2011

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2011

Western Conference Rookie of the Month: November 2010, December 2010, January 2011, February 2011, March 2011, April 2011

College[link]

2009 Naismith College Player of the Year

2009 John Wooden Award

2009 Adolph Rupp Trophy 2009 Oscar Robertson Trophy 2009 AP All-American First Team 2009 ''Sports Illustrated'' Player of the Year

2009 AP National Player of the Year

2009 ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Men's Basketball Awards

2009 Big 12 Player of the Year

2009 All-Big 12 First Team

*2008 All-Big 12 First Team

*2008 Big 12 All-Rookie Team

High school[link]

Class 3A State Championship: 2004, 2005

Class 2A State Championship: 2006, 2007 Class 2A Tournament MVP: 2006, 2007

''The Oklahoman'' Player of the Year: 2006, 2007

2007 McDonald's All-American

2007 McDonald's All-American Slam Dunk Champion

2007 ''Parade'' All-America Third Team

2007 ''Tulsa World'' Player of the Year

2007 Oklahoma Boys All-State First Team

2006 ''Tulsa World'' Boys All-State First Team

2005 Little All-City All-State Team

Off the court[link]

Griffin resides in Manhattan Beach, California.

Endorsements[link]

Griffin appeared on the cover of ''NCAA Basketball 10'' video game by EA Sports, and in an advertising campaign for Subway restaurants. He has appeared in commercials for Kia automobiles and AT&T;, and appeared in ''Sports Show with Norm Macdonald'' with teammate DeAndre Jordan. In April 2011, Panini America signed Griffin to an exclusive long-term deal that will feature his autographs and memorabilia in Panini products. Panini initially signed him to a one year deal, which expired in 2010. He has also signed with Vizio to pitch digital TVs and other products. In April 2011 he appeared in a trailer for the video game ''Rage''.

Philanthropy[link]

Griffin started a fundraiser called Dunking for Dollars, in which he donates $100 to fight childhood obesity for every dunk he makes. The Kia sedan that Griffin jumped over to win the Slam Dunk Contest was donated for a charity auction on AutoTrader.com with proceeds benefiting Stand Up to Cancer. The auction started May 5, 2011 and ran through May 15. Stand Up to Cancer also has a fund-raising site called Team Blake, in honor of his close friend Wilson Holloway, who died after a three-year fight with Hodgkin's lymphoma.

See also[link]

2009 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

List of first overall NBA draft picks

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season rebounding leaders

References[link]

External links[link]

Official Site

YouTube video of a dunk by Blake Griffin

Scout.com Profile

Rivals.com Profile

NBADraft.net Profile

DraftExpress Profile

Category:1989 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:Basketball players from Oklahoma Category:Los Angeles Clippers draft picks Category:Los Angeles Clippers players Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:NBA Slam Dunk Contest champions Category:Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball players Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Category:Power forwards (basketball) Category:National Basketball Association All-Stars

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