FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The NBA announced today that Blake Griffin has been voted by the fans into the starting lineup for the Western Conference for the 2014 NBA All-Star Game. It is the third year for Griffin to make the starting lineup and the first time in three years the Clippers did not have both Chris Paul and Griffin in the starting lineup.
“I am honored to be selected a starter for the All-Star Game,” Griffin said. “It means a lot for it to come from the fans and I look forward to representing the Clippers in New Orleans.”
This is Griffin’s fourth All-Star game to participate in, he has been a starter three times and a reserve once.
Griffin leads the Clippers with 22.6 points to go along with 10.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 44 games (all starts). He ranks 4th in field goals made (368), 9th in scoring, 11th in rebounding and 15th in field goal percentage (.524) in the NBA this season.
The last Clippers player to start an All-Star Game before Griffin or Paul was World B. Free of the San Diego Clippers in 1980. The Clippers franchise has now been represented in the All-Star Game a total of 22 times by 11 different players (Blake Griffin- 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, Chris Paul - 2012, 2013, Chris Kaman - 2010, Elton Brand - 2002, 2006, Danny Manning - 1993,1994, Marques Johnson - 1986, Norm Nixon - 1985, World B. Free - 1980, Randy Smith - 1976, 1978, Bob McAdoo - 1974, 1975, 1976 and Bob Kauffman - 1971, 1972, 1973).
The 63rd NBA All-Star Game will be exclusively televised on TNT from New Orleans Arena on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014. The All-Star Game, also broadcast live on ESPN Radio, will collectively reach fans in 215 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.
Griffin finished with 688,466 votes, he is joined in the frontcourt in the West with Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder (1,396,294) and Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves (661,246). The backcourt consists of Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors (1,047,281) and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers (988,884).
NBA All-Star Balloting 2014 presented by Sprint, which concluded on Jan. 20, gave fans around the world the opportunity to vote daily for their favorite players as starters for the 2014 NBA All-Star Game. For the second year in a row, NBA fans voted via social media networks, including Facebook and Twitter, and Sina Weibo and Tencent Microblog in China. This year, the NBA expanded social media voting to include Instagram.
