Blake Griffin darn near hit his head on the rim on his first official NBA basketball game. The "rookie" (he was drafted in 2009 but didn't play due to the Clipper Curse injury) finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds, a rare double double stat line for a first game. In just a few short minutes, he turned a season's worth of Clipper highlights. You can forgive Clipper fan for being a little excited as evidenced by the hush of anticipation everybody got when Griffin gets a touch. Along with Eric Gordon (borderline All-Star), Baron Davis (former All-Star), Chris Kaman (soon-to-be former All-Star), a supporting cast of the 2008 Minnesota Timberwolves (Craig Smith, Randy Foye, Ryan Gomes) and promising rookies (Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe), about the only thing that can stop Griffin's ascension is the vaunted "Clipper Curse" and coach Vinny Del Negro.
But you should collect him anyway. Why? Because right now the boat still hasn't left shore. Blake Griffin rookie cards are still selling at a relatively reasonable rate. His National Treasures rookie is hovering in the $500 range and it's a rookie auto patch card that's numbered to 99. If this was an Upper Deck, best believe you'd be adding a 1 next to that 5. A combination of Panini and playing for the little brother team in Los Angeles is what is holding his cards down for now. But if he lives up to his potential of being the evolutionary Charles Barkley? It might be a 2 next to that 5 a year from now.
And if he's wearing a different jersey and signing a max deal a few years from now? The Curse might be in full effect, but he'll be dunking faces off on a team that isn't cursed. Good times for all, really.
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