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PATTEN PENDING: GRIFFIN’S FIRST PLAYER OF THE MONTH WON’T BE LAST

February may be best known as the month of love, but in 2014 its heart belonged to Blake Griffin.

Griffin was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for February on Wednesday evening, an award he has never captured before. However, after what was arguably the most dominant stretch of his career, there are likely more in the future.

Griffin’s emergence was one of the reasons that anyone I asked about him in New Orleans gushed. Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said it was a “joy” to be around him, LaMarcus Aldridge suggested Griffin was an MVP candidate and Love, the man Griffin is most oft compared against, spoke in glowing terms.

“He’s been great,” Love said during All-Star media day. “He’s been a guy that’s elevated his game to the next level. Chris Paul went out, and he took kind of the reins of the team and got all of those veteran players to play together. He was the star on the team throughout that entire time.”

Griffin’s critics seemed to dissipate over the course of February as well. News outlets penned stories of his “growth” and interview requests were at what seemed like an all-time high. It was though a contingent of media that fell in love with Griffin three years ago during his Rookie of the Year campaign had returned. There couldn’t have been a more apropos month to do so.

Eric Patten, Clippers.com