By MICHAEL EAVES
FOXSportsWest.com | PRIME TICKET
Feb. 2, 2011
The NBA is set to announce the reserves for this year's All-Star Game live on TNT on Thursday and Blake Griffin should be named.
PHOTOS:Looks Like An All-Star
Ironically, Griffin and the Clippers will be en route to Atlanta - home of the TNT studios - when the announcement is made. The rest of the league could know if Griffin makes the All-Star Game before he even does, although there shouldn't even be an "if."
Griffin is having an All-Star season. What else does this kid have to do?
If Griffin is not selected as an All-Star this year, they should cancel the game. His play this season has embodied every aspect of being a star among stars.
"He's a star," said Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau. "The things he's doing as a rookie are very impressive. I don't think you can guard him one-on-one."
And that's good support to have if you are Griffin. After all, it's the coaches who determine the All-Star reserves. Most coaches are very coy with their votes in refusing to disclose them out of respect for those they left off their ballot.
After turning in his votes by the Tuesday deadline, Suns head coach Alvin Gentry did, however, reveal his one vote for Griffin.
"He's the best athlete in the league right now," Gentry said. "I don't think people realize how hard he plays and how competitive he is."
But Gentry and Thibodeau are not alone among their coaching brethren in bestowing praise upon the Clippers sensational rookie. Whether it's George Karl or Gregg Popovich, the common sentiment around the league seems to be that Griffin is not only an All-Star, but a superstar in the making.
"If you are asking me how good he is going to be, I think he's going to be a perennial all-star, said Gentry. "I think it's going to be hard for him not to be."
