Blake Griffin: Playmaker Extraordinaire

It would be pointless for me or anyone else to declare Blake Griffin’s rookie season a rousing success thus far. Ridiculous statistical lines and metric tons of highlight reel footage tend to speak for themselves. Griffin has dunked and rebounded his way to mainstream appeal, a testament to his impressive abilities as a stat stuffer and the innate, almighty power of a rim-rocking slam.

Although his statistical contributions are splendid, Griffin isn’t out to “get his.” In fact, it’s quite the contrary; though the N.B.A.’s new favorite son is a strong scorer and rebounder, Griffin has also impressed fans with his knack for piling up the game’s most altruistic statistic. He may not function as the Clippers’ primary ball handler, but Griffin is no stranger to setting up his teammates.

In fact, Griffin has registered seven or more assists on five occasions this season, a mark surpassed by only one forward or center (LeBron James) in the league. He has reached that mark more often than the starting point guards Aaron Brooks and Darren Collison, and is just one seven-assist game short of matching Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Manu Ginobili’s totals for the year. The same court awareness that guides Griffin to the hoop for a put-back dunk apparently informs his sense of space on the pass, leading to an impressive overall floor game that doesn’t quite get the credit it deserves. Most big men don’t move or dunk the way Griffin does, and most don’t pass the way he does, either.

Griffin is adept at executing simple kick-outs from the post, but his patience down low is particularly impressive. Rarely does he seem rushed. He moves quickly, but only because doing so often coincides with his own sense of pace. Yet when his options are limited, he isn’t reluctant at all to reset the ball up top, or wait for defenders to swarm him before finding a wide-open teammate:


He is similarly impressive in dealing with double teams all over the floor. Blue chip prospects like Griffin have seen heavy defensive pressure their entire lives, but not all of them display the same savvy and persistence in making the right play. Griffin’s height often allows him to see over his defenders, and he evaluates his options carefully until a great opportunity — rather than merely a good one — presents itself:



Beyond that ability to execute the routine pass to perfection is an uncanny sense of his teammates’ positioning. Griffin can make a great pass from almost anywhere on the court, and in doing so he hardly looks like a forward facilitating the offense. Griffin’s passes have more of an impact than that; he is a legitimate playmaker for Los Angeles:


Nothing about Griffin – from his insane athleticism to his unique rebounding style – is typical, which makes it fitting that he has stepped into a unique class of passing big men. 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 effectiveness transcends “SportsCenter.”

Griffin is the reigning king of N.B.A. spectacle, but 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.

Rob Mahoney is an obsessive student of professional basketball, dedicated to the minutiae, the overarching themes and everything in between. You can read more of his work at TheTwoManGame.com, HardwoodParoxysm.com and ProBasketballTalk.com.