Blake Griffin VS. Kobe Bryant

Blake Griffin vs Kobe Bryant

Blake Griffin set many career benchmarks for himself at the Wizards victory on last weeks Wednesday night game, 3/23. First, a triple-double. Then he ties the Clippers record for double-doubles at 55 for the season- thus far! Then he walked away with an impressive 33 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists. He is on fire and everyone knows it.

If you aren’t already in the loop, Griffin won state titles all four years of High School. His list of High School Awards is impressive and in-depth to say the least. After high school Griffin was recruited to Oklahoma and earned an even more intimidating list of accolades: Naismith College Player of the Year, John Wooden Award, Adolph Rubb Trophy, Oscar Robertson Trophy, AP All American First team…. These are but the tip of the iceberg. Halfway through college Griffin was plucked by the Clippers and premiered as the 2009 NBA first pick of the first round. However, Griffin suffered a substantial knee injury just a week before what was to be his NBA debut. He subsequently sat out the entire first season.

Fast forward to the 2010-2011 season…. What we have is an NBA phenomenon not felt since Kobe first stepped onto the scene in 1996.

Kobe led his high school team to their first state Championship in 53 years. He finished his High School Career as Southeastern Pennsylvania’s All Time Leading Scorer, leaving Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons in the dust. He was the first guard in the NBA ever to be drafted straight out of high school. Upon entering the NBA Kobe was the 13th overall pick of the first round draft in the NBA. In his first year he too earned the Naismith Prep Player of the Year, like Griffin. In his second year of actively playing for the Lakers (mind you, Griffin is only technically in his first year of actively playing), Kobe Bryant was on the NBA All Rookie Second Team as well as the NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion- both accolades shared by Griffin. Kobe was at the time the youngest Slam Dunk Champion at just 18 years old.

So let’s see what Griffin will have achieved by the end of his first year on the court. So far he has surpassed Kobe in some areas.