LA CLIPPERS' BLAKE GRIFFIN: THE "DOMINATOR" VIDEO GAME RULES LA!
THE VECCHIO FACTOR SAYS...
They come along once every 10 to 15 years.
Mikan, West, Baylor, Chamberlain, Russell, Kareem, Dr. J, Magic, Bird, Jordan, Wilkins, Malone, O'Neal, Bryant, James: some of the super talent, superstar basketball players, from the '50s to the present, that have kept the NBA afloat, alive, and affluent, while providing entertainment to millions who "wish they could be like Mike."
Add one more name to the list: Blake Griffin.
Just as movies need movie stars, and television needs TV stars, sports needs superstars, and fans need them in order to live vicariously through their performances.
Broken down to its simplest terms, for those who wish to find an escape from the hum-drum beat of their daily lives, it's all about entertainment value.
Entertainment via movies, television and sports arguably provides, for most, the biggest "escape from reality."
In the movie and television industry, certain stars are more entertaining than others. Their movies and TV shows sell the most tickets and/or get the best ratings, garner the most publicity, and create iconic, bigger than life "star" images in the eyes of the public.
The same results apply to the superstar players in the NBA, especially if they play in the high visibility, "glamour cities" such as New York, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles.
Like movie and TV entertainment stars, if NBA players achieve superstar status, they gain not only celebrity status via major PR and publicity, but national and global acclaim as well.
That "celebrity" can equate to huge dollars and immense success for them, their teams, the game of basketball, and the NBA.
Blake Griffin is the latest, greatest NBA superstar entertainer.
Taken No. 1 by the LA Clippers in the 2009 draft, a preseason knee injury delayed his coming out party until the 2010-11 season.
If you've watched him play this season, you know he's been well worth the wait!
They say the world is ever-evolving. For most of us who have watched and studied sports, and in this case, the game of basketball, we have seen this evolution manifest itself in athletic terms.
The NBA players of this generation are simply much more athletic, as if by watching and playing video games, they became the characters in the game itself.
From Elgin Baylor's twisting, turning, contorted moves to Dr. J's swooping, "from the free throw line" dunks, to Magic's "no-look" passes, we thought we had seen it all athletically on the basketball court...until the "human highlight film," Dominique Wilkins showed up.
And when we asked who can top this, along came Michael Jordan!
Michael showed us moves we never thought were possible, like scoring as he switched hands from one to another in the 1991 NBA Finals against the Lakers.
The heir apparent to Michael was Kobe Bryant. If ever a basketball player was cloned from another, it's Bryant from Jordan.
Kobe has since wrested away the title of "the greatest Laker," surpassing West, Kareem and Magic, winning five NBA championships in seven Finals appearances,
During his 15-year reign, only one other has challenged him—LeBron James.
Arguably, LeBron's mixture of athleticism and power have made him the next great NBA superstar, taking the reins from Kobe Bryant as the NBA's premier player.
But, although his skills are eroding after 15 years and 46,000 minutes in the NBA, Bryant still commands above equal footing with LeBron in some areas, such as his unparalleled "closer" ability, and fierce competitive desire in winning five NBA championships.
What is undeniable is that No. 24 has been the sheriff of the LA basketball world for the past 15 years.
Until now.
As they say, "time waits for no one," and KB has a new rival sheriff in town: Blake Griffin.
Griffin, who is 11 years younger than Bryant, is a "video game" generation product.
His moves are video game-esque, and he plays like "Blanka," straight out of "Street Fighter II!"
His game is like no other, before him or present tense, a blend of Chamberlain, LeBron, and Kobe...beastly overpowering, amazingly athletic, and fused together with a competitive fury and "refuse to lose" ironclad will.
Sorry "Black Mamba." Later "King James." Move over "Blanka."
I hereby crown Blake Griffin as the new, exciting NBA superstar, and bestow upon him the moniker of, the "DOMINATOR!"
After dropping 47 and 14 on Indiana on MLK's day, can anyone deny the "DOMINATOR" rules LA?
JOE VECCHIO
THE VECCHIO FACTOR
