This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (July 2011)

Social media includes web-based and mobile based technologies which are used to turn communication into interactive dialogue between organizations, communities, and individuals. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content."^[1] Social media is ubiquitously accessible, and enabled by scalable communication techniques.

Social media[link]

Classification of social media[link]

Social media technologies take on many different forms including magazines, Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, podcasts, photographs or pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking. By applying a set of theories in the field of media research (social presence, media richness) and social processes (self-presentation, self-disclosure) Kaplan and Haenlein created a classification scheme for different social media types in their Business Horizons article published in 2010. According to Kaplan and Haenlein there are six different types of social media: collaborative projects (e.g., Wikipedia), blogs and microblogs (e.g., Twitter), content communities (e.g., YouTube), social networking sites (e.g., Facebook), virtual game worlds (e.g., World of Warcraft), and virtual social worlds (e.g. Second Life). Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing and voice over IP, to name a few. Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms. Social media sites are sites like Facebook, Twitter, Bebo and MySpace

The honeycomb framework defines how social media services focus on some or all of seven functional building blocks (identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups). These building blocks help understand the engagement needs of the social media audience. For instance, LinkedIn users care mostly about identity, reputation and relationships, whereas YouTube’s primary building blocks are sharing, conversations, groups and reputation.^[2] Many companies build their own social containers that attempt to link the seven functional building blocks around their brands. These are private communities that engage people around a more narrow theme, as in around a particular brand, vocation or hobby, than social media containers such as Google+ or Facebook.

Patents[link]

Number of US social network patent applications published per year and patents issued per year^[3]

There has been rapid growth in the number of US patent applications that cover new technologies related to social media. The number of published applications has been growing rapidly over the past five years. There are now over 250 published applications.^[4] Only about 10 of these applications have issued as patents, however, largely due to the multi-year backlog in examination of business method patents^[5]

Purpose[link]

Distinction from industrial media[link]

Businesses may refer to social media as consumer-generated media (CGM). A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value.^{[citation needed]}

People obtain information, education, news and other data from electronic media and print media. Social media are distinct from industrial or traditional media, such as newspapers, television, and film. They are relatively inexpensive and accessible to enable anyone (even private individuals) to publish or access information, compared to industrial media,^{[clarification needed]} which generally require significant resources to publish information.

One characteristic shared by both social media and industrial media is the capability to reach small or large audiences; for example, either a blog post or a television show may reach no people or millions of people. Some of the properties that help describe the differences between social media and industrial media are:^{[citation needed]}

1. Reach – both industrial and social media technologies provide scale and are capable of reaching a global audience. Industrial media, however, typically use a centralized framework for organization, production, and dissemination, whereas social media are by their very nature more decentralized, less hierarchical, and distinguished by multiple points of production and utility.
2. Accessibility – the means of production for industrial media are typically government and/or privately owned; social media tools are generally available to the public at little or no cost.
3. Usability – industrial media production typically requires specialized skills and training. Conversely, most social media production does not require specialized skills and training, or requires only modest reinterpretation of existing skills; in theory, anyone with access can operate the means of social media production.
4. Immediacy – the time lag between communications produced by industrial media can be long (days, weeks, or even months) compared to social media (which can be capable of virtually instantaneous responses; only the participants determine any delay in response). However, as industrial media begins adopting aspects of production normally associated with social media tools, this feature may not prove distinctive over time.
5. Permanence – industrial media, once created, cannot be altered (once a magazine article is printed and distributed changes cannot be made to that same article) whereas social media can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing.

Community media constitute a hybrid of industrial and social media. Though community-owned, some community radio, TV and newspapers are run by professionals and some by amateurs. They use both social and industrial media frameworks.

Social media has also been recognized for the way in which it has changed how public relations professionals conduct their jobs. It has provided an open arena where people are free to exchange ideas on companies, brands and products. As stated by Doc Searls and David Wagner, two authorities on the effects of Internet on marketing, advertising, and PR, "the best of the people in PR are not PR Types at all. They understand that there aren't censors, they're the company's best conversationalists."^[6] Social media provides an environment where users and PR professionals can engage in conversation, where PR professionals can promote their brand and improve their company's image, be listening and responding to what the public is saying about their product.

Managing social media[link]

Kietzmann et al. (2011) contend that social media presents an enormous challenge for firms, as many established management methods are ill-suited to deal with customers who no longer want to be talked at but who want firms to listen and engage. The authors explain that each of the seven functional building blocks has important implications for how firms should engage with social media. By analyzing identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups, firms can monitor and understand how social media activities vary in terms of their function and impact, so as to develop a congruent social media strategy based on the appropriate balance of building blocks for their community.^[2]

Increasingly, the term 'social business' is being used to try and suggest that engagement with social media is important to more than just marketing and PR departments, and should also affect those working in sales, human resource management and R&D.

Building "social authority" and vanity[link]

According to the European Journal of Social Psychology, one of the key components in successful social media marketing implementation is building "social authority". Social authority is developed when an individual or organization establishes themselves as an "expert" in their given field or area, thereby becoming an influencer in that field or area.^[7]

It is through this process of "building social authority" that social media becomes effective. That is why one of the foundational concepts in social media has become that you cannot completely control your message through social media but rather you can simply begin to participate in the "conversation" expecting that you can achieve a significant influence in that conversation.^[8]

However, this conversation participation must be cleverly executed because while people are resistant to marketing in general, they are even more resistant to direct or overt marketing through social media platforms. This may seem counter-intuitive but is the main reason building social authority with credibility is so important. A marketer can generally not expect people to be receptive to a marketing message in and of itself. In the Edelman Trust Barometer report in 2008, the majority (58%) of the respondents reported they most trusted company or product information coming from "people like me" inferred to be information from someone they trusted. In the 2010 Trust Report, the majority switched to 64% preferring their information from industry experts and academics. According to Inc. Technology's Brent Leary, "This loss of trust, and the accompanying turn towards experts and authorities, seems to be coinciding with the rise of social media and networks."^[9][10]

Internet usage effects[link]

An increasing number of scholars have sought to study and measure the impact of social media (such as the Museum of Social Media). A study by the University of Maryland suggested that social media services may be addictive,^[11] and that using social media services may lead to a "fear of missing out," also known as the phrase "FOMO" by many students.^[12] It has been observed that Facebook is now the primary method for communication by college students in the U.S.^[13][14]

Several colleges have even introduced classes on best social media practices, preparing students for potential careers as digital strategists.^[15]

There are various statistics that account for social media usage and effectiveness for individuals worldwide. Some of the most recent statistics are as follows:

• Social networking now accounts for 22% of all time spent online in the US.^[16]
• A total of 234 million people age 13 and older in the U.S. used mobile devices in December 2009.^[17]
• Twitter processed more than one billion tweets in December 2009 and averages almost 40 million tweets per day.^[17]
• Over 25% of U.S. internet page views occurred at one of the top social networking sites in December 2009, up from 13.8% a year before.^[17]
• Australia has some of the highest social media usage in the world. In usage of Facebook, Australia ranks highest, with over 9 million users spending almost 9 hours per month on the site.^[18][19]
• The number of social media users age 65 and older grew 100 percent throughout 2010, so that one in four people in that age group are now part of a social networking site.^[20]
• As of June 2011^[update] Facebook has 750 Million users.^[21]
• Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S.^[22]
• Social Media has overtaken pornography as the No. 1 activity on the web.^[22]
• iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months, and Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months.^[22]
• If Facebook were a country it would be the world's 3rd largest in terms of population, that's above the US.
• U.S. Department of Education study revealed that online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction.^[22]
• YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world.^[22]
• In four minutes and 26 seconds 100+ hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube.^[22]
• 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media.^[22]
• 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum.^[22]
• Indians spend more time on social media than on any other activity on the Internet.^[23]

According to a report by Nielson^[24]

“In the U.S. alone, total minutes spent on social networking sites has increased 83 percent year-over-year. In fact, total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700 percent year-over-year, growing from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, making it the No. 1 social networking site for the month.”

The main increase in social media has been Facebook. It was ranked as the number one social networking site. Approximately 100 million users access this site through their mobile phone. According to Nielsen, global consumers spend more than 6 hours on social networking sites. "Social Media Revolution" produced by Socialnomics author Erik Qualman contains numerous statistics on Social Media including the fact that 93% of businesses use it for marketing and that if Facebook were a country it would be the third largest.^[25] In an effort to supplant Facebook's dominance, Google launched Google+ in the summer of 2011.

Impacts on history and memory[link]

News media and television journalism have been instrumental in the shaping of American collective memory for much of the twentieth century.^[26][27] Indeed, since the United States’ colonial era, public images and news media influenced collective memory and discourse about national development and national trauma. Journalistic influence is growing less important however, as social networking sites like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter provide a constant source of alternative news sources for users. In many ways, mainstream journalists have maintained an authoritative voice as the storytellers of the American past. Their documentary style narratives, detailed exposes, and their positions in the present make them prime sources for public memory. Specifically, news media journalists have shaped collective memory on nearly every major national event – from the deaths of social and political figures, to the progression of political hopefuls. Journalists provide elaborate descriptions of commemorative events in U.S. history and contemporary popular cultural sensations. Many Americans learn the significance of historical events and political issues through news media, as they are presented on popular news stations.^[28] The recent controversy surrounding Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) struggles to secure marital rights figures prominently in news media, which has helped educated many Americans on the contemporary progression of LGBT civil rights struggles, as well as it has provided them with means for supporting or rejecting political gains for LGBT citizens.

Nonetheless, as social networking becomes more popular among older and younger generations, sites like Facebook and Youtube gradually undermine the traditionally authoritative voices of news media. American citizens, for example, contest media coverage of various social and political events as they see fit, inserting their voices into the narratives about America’s past and present, and shaping their own collective memories.^[29][30] One example of this is the public explosion of the Trayvon Martin shooting in Sanford Florida. News media coverage of the incident was minimal until social media users made the story recognizable through their constant discussion of the case. In some ways, the spread of this tragic event through alternative news sources parallels that of the Emmitt Till - whose murder became a national story after it circulated African American and Communists news papers. Approximately one month after the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, its online coverage by everyday Americans garnered national attention from mainstream media journalists. Social Media was also influential in the widespread attention given to the revolutionary outbreaks in the Middle East and North Africa during 2011.^[31][32] As one Egyptian activist succinctly put it.^[33] However, there is some debate about the extent to which social media facilitated this kind of change.^[34] Yet another example of this shift is in the on-going Kony 2012 campaign, which surfaced first on Youtube and later garnered a great amount of attention from mainstream news media journalists, who now monitor social media sites to inform their reports on the movement. In short, the growing social media trend is allowing greater American participation in telling the stories of America’s past and present, and certainly, shaping its future. Although social media networking sites may be short-lived, they prove highly effective in helping the American public remember historic events and in shaping the meanings inscribed in those events.

Criticisms[link]

This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the article's neutral point of view of the subject. Please integrate the section's contents into the article as a whole, or rewrite the material. (January 2012)

Andrew Keen criticizes social media in his book The Cult of the Amateur, writing, "Out of this anarchy, it suddenly became clear that what was governing the infinite monkeys now inputting away on the Internet was the law of digital Darwinism, the survival of the loudest and most opinionated. Under these rules, the only way to intellectually prevail is by infinite filibustering."^[35]

Tim Berners-Lee contends that the danger of social networking sites is that most are silos and do not allow users to port data from one site to another. He also cautions against social networks that grow too big and become a monopoly as this tends to limit innovation.^[36]

Eric Ehrmann contends that social media in the form of public diplomacy creates a patina of inclusiveness that covers traditional economic interests that are structured to ensure that wealth is pumped up to the top of the economic pyramid, perpetuating the digital divide and post Marxian class conflict. He also voices concern over the trend that finds social utilities operating in a quasi-libertarian global environment of oligopoly that requires users in economically challenged nations to spend high percentages of annual income to pay for devices and services to participate in the social media lifestyle.

Matthew Auer casts doubt on the conventional wisdom that social media are open and participatory. He also speculates on the emergence of "anti-social media" used as "instruments of pure control".^[37]

Facebook Detox claims that social networking is actually asocial networking, which causes people not only to stagnate in life, but stagnate in the function of creating and maintaining interpersonal relationships. Social networking, according to the website, is an obsession that has a massive negative net effect on society as a whole.

Ownership of social media content[link]

Social media content is generated through social media interactions done by the users through the site. There has always been a huge debate on the ownership of the content on social media platforms since it is generated by the users and hosted by the company. Critics contend that the companies are making a huge amount of money by using the content that does not belong to them.^[38] Hence the challenge for ownership is lesser with the communicated content, but with the personal data disclosed by the subscribed writers and readers and the correlation to chosen types of content. The security danger beyond is the parasitic conveying, diffunding or leaking of agglomerated data to third parties with certain economic interest.^[39]

Application examples[link]

Brand monitoring[link]

• Social media measurement: Attensity, Statsit, Sysomos, Vocus, SocialFlow, Simplify360

Communication[link]

• Blogs: Blogger, Drupal, ExpressionEngine, LiveJournal, Open Diary, TypePad, Vox, WordPress, Xanga
  • Microblogging: Dailybooth, FMyLife, Foursquare, Google Buzz, Identi.ca, Jaiku, Nasza-Klasa.pl, Plurk, The My2i, Posterous, Qaiku, Tumblr, Twitter
• Engagement Advertising & Monetization: SocialVibe
• Location-based social networks: Facebook places, Foursquare, Geoloqi, Google Latitude, Gowalla, The Hotlist, Yelp, Inc.
• Events: Eventful, The Hotlist, Meetup.com, Upcoming, Yelp, Inc.
• Information Aggregators: Netvibes, Twine (website)
• Online Advocacy and Fundraising: Causes, Jumo, Kickstarter, IndieGoGo
• Social networking: ASmallWorld, Bebo, Chatter, Cyworld, Diaspora, Facebook, Google+, Hi5, Hyves, IRC, LinkedIn, Mixi, MySpace, Netlog, Ning, Orkut, Plaxo, Tagged, Tuenti, XING, Yammer

Collaboration/authority building[link]

• Collaboration: Central Desktop
• Content Management Systems: E107 (CMS), Drupal, Joomla, Plone, WordPress
• Diagramming and Visual Collaboration: Creately
• Document Managing and Editing Tools: Docs.com, Dropbox.com, Google Docs, Syncplicity
• Social bookmarking (or social tagging):^[40] CiteULike, Delicious, Diigo, Google Reader, StumbleUpon, folkd, Zotero
• Social Media Gaming: Empire Avenue^[41]
• Social navigation: Trapster, Waze^[42]
• Social news: Digg, Chime.In (formerly Mixx), Newsvine, NowPublic, Reddit
• Research/Academic Collaboration: Mendeley, ResearchGate, Zotero
• Wikis: PBworks, Wetpaint, Wikia, Wikidot, Wikimedia, Wikispaces, Wikinews

Entertainment[link]

• Game sharing: Armor Games, Kongregate, Miniclip, Newgrounds
• Media and entertainment platforms: Cisco Eos, Myspace, YouTube
• Virtual worlds: Active Worlds, Forterra Systems, Second Life, The Sims Online, World of Warcraft, RuneScape

Multimedia[link]

• Livecasting: blip.tv, Justin.tv, Livestream, oovoo, OpenCU, Skype, Stickam, Ustream, YouTube
• Music and audio sharing: Bandcamp, ccMixter, Groove Shark, The Hype Machine, imeem, Last.fm, MySpace Music, Pandora Radio, ReverbNation.com, ShareTheMusic, Soundclick, SoundCloud, Spotify, Turntable.fm, 8tracks.com
• Photography and art sharing: deviantArt, Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa, SmugMug, Zooomr, Webshots, Pinterest
• Presentation sharing: Prezi, scribd, SlideShare
• Video sharing: Dailymotion, Metacafe, Nico Nico Douga, Openfilm, sevenload, Viddler, Vimeo, YouTube

Reviews and Opinions[link]

• Business reviews: Customer Lobby, Yelp, Inc.
• Community Q&A: ask.com, Askville, EHow, Quora, Stack Exchange, WikiAnswers, Yahoo! Answers
• Product reviews: epinions.com, MouthShut.com

Optimization[link]

• Social Media Optimization: SocialFlow

See also[link]

• Brand infiltration
• Citizen media
• Coke Zero Facial Profiler
• Connectivism (learning theory)
• Human impact of Internet use#Internet and political revolutions
• Metcalfe's law
• MMORPG
• Networked learning
• New media
• Online research community
• Participatory media
• Social media marketing

External Links[link]

• The Museum of Social Media - Museum of scholarly articles on the rise and impact of social media

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Rheingold, Howard (2002). Smart mobs : the next social revolution (1. printing. ed.). Cambridge, MA: Perseus Pub.. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-7382-0608-0. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smart-Mobs-Next-Social-Revolution/dp/0738206083. 
• Watts, Duncan J. (2003). Six degrees : the science of a connected age. London: Vintage. p. 368. ISBN 978-0-09-944496-1. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Six-Degrees-Science-Connected-Age/dp/0099444968. 
• Benkler, Yochai (2006). The Wealth of Networks. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-11056-1. OCLC 61881089. 
• Gentle, Anne (2009). Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation. Fort Collins, Colo: XML Press. ISBN 978-0-9822191-1-9. OCLC 464581118. 
• Johnson, Steven Berlin (2005). Everything Bad Is Good for You. New York: Riverhead Books. ISBN 1-57322-307-7. OCLC 57514882. 
• Li, Charlene; Bernoff, Josh (2008). Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. Boston: Harvard Business Press. ISBN 978-1-4221-2500-7. OCLC 423555651. 
• Scoble, Robert; Israel, Shel (2006). Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley. ISBN 0-471-74719-X. OCLC 61757953. 
• Shirky, Clay (2008). Here Comes Everybody. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-59420-153-0. OCLC 458788924. 
• Surowiecki, James (2004). The Wisdom of Crowds. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 0-385-72170-6. OCLC 156770258. 
• Tapscott, Don; Williams, Anthony D. (2006). Wikinomics. New York: Portfolio. ISBN 1-59184-138-0. OCLC 318389282. 
• Powell, Guy R.; Groves, Steven W.; Dimos, Jerry (2011). ROI of Social Media: How to improve the return on your social marketing investment. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-82741-3. OCLC 0470827416. 

Blake Griffin

Griffin with the Clippers
No. 32 – Los Angeles Clippers
Power Forward
Personal information
Born	(1989-03-16) March 16, 1989 (age 23) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Nationality	American
High school	Oklahoma Christian School (Edmond, Oklahoma)
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight	251 lb (114 kg)
Career information
College	Oklahoma
NBA Draft	2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Clippers
Pro career	2009–present
Career history
2009–present	Los Angeles Clippers
Career highlights and awards
NBA Rookie of the Year (2011) 2× NBA All-Star (2011, 2012) All-NBA Second Team (2012) NBA All-Rookie First Team (2011) NBA Slam Dunk Champion (2011) 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)
Stats at NBA.com

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

Early years[link]

Childhood[link]

Blake Griffin was born on March 16, 1989, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Tommy and Gail Griffin.^[3] His father was a basketball center and track standout at NAIA Northwestern Oklahoma State University.^[4] 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.^[5][6][7][8] The Griffin brothers are bi-racial, their father being African-American and their mother White.^[9] 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.^[8][10] 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.^[11] Apart from basketball, he also played baseball as a first baseman and football as a wide receiver, safety and a tight end.^[11][12]

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.^[5] 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.^[13] 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.^[14] The team finished the season with a 24–2 record,^[15] 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.^[16] 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.^[17][18]

During his junior season, the Oklahoma Christian basketball team was moved down to Class 2A from the Class 3A.^[19] As he began his third season with the Saints, he was quickly developing into a strong and athletic player,^[20] 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.^[21] He was named the state tournament MVP,^[22] 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.^[23] His play attracted the attention of the new basketball head coach for Oklahoma, Jeff Capel, who first heard of him through his brother Taylor.^[4] That spring, Capel saw him play for the first time and was impressed with his combination of size, strength and athleticism.^[4] 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.^[4] He had been considering Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and Texas,^[4] 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.^[24]

Griffin committed to Oklahoma before the start of his senior season^[24] 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.^[3] In a game against Oklahoma City Southeast, he finished with an eye-popping triple-double, 41 points, 28 rebounds, and 10 assists.^[25] 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.^[26] On March 10, 2007, he played his final high school game in the state title game against Pawnee High School.^[16] He registered 22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks, as the Saints defeated Pawnee 81–50, winning their fourth straight state title.^[5] 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.^[3] During his four-year run, the Oklahoma Christian Saints posted a 106–6 overall record.^[27]

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.^[25][28] He was ranked as the nation's #13 high school senior by HoopScoop, #20 by scout.com and #23 by rivals.com,^[29] and as the country's third-best power forward by HoopScoop, sixth by rivals.com and the seventh by scout.com.^[3] 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.^[30][31] At the McDonald's All-American game in Louisville, Kentucky he won the Powerade Jam Fest slam dunk contest.^[32]

College career[link]

Griffin while playing at Oklahoma

Griffin was one of the highest rated and most decorated recruits ever at Oklahoma.^[3] 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.^[33] He ranked ninth in scoring, fourth in rebounding and third in field goal percentage in the Big 12 Conference.^[3] 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.^[34] Less than two months after injuring his left knee, he injured his right knee in a home victory against Texas A&M.^[35] The injury this time was torn cartilage, and he had arthroscopic surgery on March 2, 2008.^[35] He missed the following game, a victory over in-state rival Oklahoma State Cowboys,^[36] 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.^[33] 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.^[3] He became the first Sooner to make the conference All-Rookie team since Wayman Tisdale in 1983 for the Big Eight Conference.^[37] 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.^[6]

In his sophomore season, the Sooners started out the season winning their first 12 games before falling to the Arkansas Razorbacks.^[38] In the third game of the season against the Davidson Wildcats, he scored 25 points and grabbed 21 rebounds,^[39] after which he scored 35 points and 21 rebounds against Gardner–Webb,^[40] becoming the first player in Big 12 history to record back-to-back games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds.^[3] 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.^[3] 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,^[33] 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).^[41][42]

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.^[43] He sat out the second half during the Sooners loss with a bloody nose.^[43] It was the Sooners' first loss of their conference schedule for the season.^[44] 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.^[45] 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.^[46] In the "Big Dance", Oklahoma was seeded No. 2 in the South Region with a 27–5 record.^[47] In the second-round win over the Michigan Wolverines, he scored 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds,^[48] just the second player in the 2000s decade with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in the NCAA tournament.^[49] However, the Sooners lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the South Regional final.^[50]

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.^[51] 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.^[3] 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.^[52][53] With 30 double-doubles during the season, he was one short of the NCAA record of 31 set by David Robinson in 1986–1987.^[54] 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.^[3][55]

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.^[56][57] Griffin was announced as the winner of the prestigious Naismith College Player of the Year on April 5 in Detroit.^[58] Three days after announcing that he would turn pro, he won the John Wooden Award as college basketball's top player.^[1] 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.^[1][57] He was also named Player of the Year by the Big 12, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News and FoxSports.com.^[11]

College statistics[link]

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.^[59][60] 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.^[61] 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.^[62] 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.^[62] After resting the stress fracture for several weeks, tests revealed that his knee was not recovering properly.^[63] In January 2010, Griffin had surgery on his broken left kneecap, missing the entire 2009–10 season.^[63] In the off season Griffin spent a great deal of time working out with a San Francisco-based trainer.^[64]

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

Griffin in a game against the Washington Wizards on March 12, 2011

Since he missed the entire 2009–10 season, Griffin was still considered a rookie during the 2010–11 season.^[65] In his debut for the Clippers against the Portland Trail Blazers, Griffin scored 20 points and registered 14 rebounds.^[66] He set a franchise record for most consecutive double-doubles with 23 in a home game against the Golden State Warriors.^[67] His streak of consecutive double-doubles was the longest rookie double-double streak since 1968,^[2] which ended at 27 games on January 19 in a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves where he scored 29 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.^[68] 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.^[69] 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.^[70][71] He also participated in the 2011 Rookie Challenge and won the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star break.^[72][73] 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,^[74] 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.^[75]

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.^[76] 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.^[77] 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.^[78][79] He was also the only unanimous selection to the All-Rookie First Team.^[80] In October 2011 Griffin was rated the 10th best player in the NBA by ESPN and the collective TrueHoop Network.^[81]

2011–12 First playoff appearance[link]

Blake Griffin and Clippers players (Nick Young, Chris Paul, Randy Foye and Kenyon Martin) on the floor vs Kings on April 4, 2012.

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,^[82] 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]

Griffin hanging on the rim

Standing at 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 m), 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.^[83] 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.^[84] 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.^[85] 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."^[85] 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]

Playoffs[link]

Career highs[link]

Regular season[link]

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,^[86] December 2010,^[87] January 2011,^[88] February 2011,^[89] March 2011,^[90] April 2011^[91]

College[link]

• 2009 Naismith College Player of the Year
• 2009 John Wooden Award
• 2009 Adolph Rupp Trophy^[92]
• 2009 Oscar Robertson Trophy^[93]
• 2009 AP All-American First Team^[94]
• 2009 Sports Illustrated Player of the Year^[95]
• 2009 AP National Player of the Year
• 2009 Sporting News Player of the Year^[96]
• Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Men's Basketball Awards^[97]
  • 2009 Big 12 Player of the Year^[98]
  • 2009 All-Big 12 First Team^[97]
  • 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^[3]
• Class 2A Tournament MVP: 2006, 2007^[3]
• 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^[28]
• 2007 EA Sports All-American Second Team^[99]
• 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.^[100]

Endorsements[link]

Griffin appeared on the cover of NCAA Basketball 10 video game by EA Sports, and in an advertising campaign for Subway restaurants.^[101] He has appeared in commercials for Kia automobiles and AT&T,^[102] and appeared in Sports Show with Norm Macdonald with teammate DeAndre Jordan.^[103] In April 2011, Panini America signed Griffin to an exclusive long-term deal that will feature his autographs and memorabilia in Panini products.^[104] Panini initially signed him to a one year deal, which expired in 2010.^[105] He has also signed with Vizio to pitch digital TVs and other products.^[106] 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.^[107] 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.^[108] 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.^[108]

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]