Kevin Durant praises Blake Griffin

They both transformed their teams. They both put up monster numbers in their NBA debuts. And they both won the rookie of the year award.

But what would have happened if Blake Griffin and Kevin Durant had entered the league at the same time? Who would have been most deserving of the honor?

Durant says that's a no-brainer. "[Griffin] would have been rookie of the year."

Said Griffin: "I dont know about that. We were kind of in two different positions as rookies. We both did come in and we got to play a lot of minutes. You know, it's hard to say."

After being selected as the top draft pick by the Clippers in 2009, Griffin averaged 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds in his rookie debut last season. (He suffered a broken left knee cap during the final preseason game in 2009 that kept him sidelined that year.) Durant, who was selected second by the Seattle Supersonics in 2007, averaged 20.3 points and 4.4 rebounds.

"I'm just fortunate enough that I didn't play the same rookie year as he did," Durant said. But it feels good to say I was rookie of the year and be in the same class as a great player like Blake."

Trying to choose which one of Griffin's dunks last season was the most spectacular is like asking a parent to choose a favorite child -- for most people, it's an awfully difficult prospect.

So we threw the question at Griffin.

Even he stumbled a bit.

Griffin talked about how there was a nine-game home stretch last season during which the Clippers were undefeated. When prodded a bit more, he mentioned the game against the Indiana Pacers on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in which he scored a career-high 47 points, shot 19 for 24 from the field and nine for 11 from the free-throw line. (He had only one dunk that game.)

After winning, 114-107, he told The Times' Lisa Dillman, "As a kid, you always dream of having big games like you see guys do all the time. I watched guys like Michael Jordan. I don't know how many 40-point games he had. You think about it and you dream about it.

"But it doesn't really hit you. I don't think twice about it to be honest. It's one of those things. You have games where shots are falling."

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Kevin Love and Blake Griffin on the NBA lockout

-- Melissa Rohlin

Kevin Love and Blake Griffin on the NBA lockout

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love suggested the NBA lockout could hurt his team more than others.

"It's going to be tough to really get our team on the same page because we have such a young group of guys, a young unit of guys, where we're the youngest team in the NBA with a new coach," Love said at a promotional event at Santa Monica sports bar South.

Love, an All-Star who led the league in rebounds last season, intimated that other teams could perhaps better weather the storm.

"Teams like the Lakers, teams like the Dallas Mavericks and teams like the Boston Celtics, they have veteran players who somewhat need the rest in the off-season, a team that knows each other, has the chemistry, have played with each other.

"They'll kind of jump into the season when the season is started and the lockout is finished, and jump off where they were last year. With a team like us, we need time on the floor together."

Love was not the only player to express concern about the lockout.

Clippers forward Blake Griffin, who missed the 2009 season after sustaining a broken left kneecap in the final preseason game, seemed peeved that he's once again being kept off of the court.

"It's very frustrating," said Griffin, who was Rookie of the Year last season. "I think it's frustrating for all the players. We all want to be out there. We want to be playing."

— Melissa Rohlin

Blake Griffin injures foot, will miss charity game

Clippers All-Star Blake Griffin suffered a small cut on his right foot while swimming in the ocean and will not play in Sunday’s charity basketball game in Oklahoma City.

Griffin’s agent Sam Goldfeder said it was a minor injury and Griffin should be back on the court soon.

Griffin, who is from Oklahoma City, was co-sponsoring the charity event with Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant.

Other NBA stars scheduled to play in the exhibition include LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony.

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--Broderick Turner

Photo: Blake Griffin receives the Rookie of the Year trophy in May. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Blake Griffin takes comedy intern job for Will Ferrell

Stymied by the NBA lockout, Blake Griffin is going to work for Will Ferrell instead.

This week, the Clippers All-Star forward is interning at Funny Or Die, the comedy website co-founded by Ferrell and Adam McKay. Griffin arrived at the site's L.A. offices Tuesday to begin three days of work in video production.

He will help write, shoot, edit and act in several videos for the site. Funny Or Die quickly creates digital comedy videos, often with celebrity guest appearances.

Griffin said he's a big comedy fan and an avid viewer of Funny Or Die. As an intern, he hopes to learn more about film production.

“Just to get an inside look at how things are run here is exciting to me,” Griffin said Tuesday. “I don't know what interns at Funny Or Die are like, but I'm about to find out, I guess.”

Mike Farah, president of production at Funny Or Die, pledged that Griffin will be treated like other interns. He noted that the 22-year-old Griffin is, after all, about the same age as most of the site's college interns. The others, of course, may not be able to dunk over midsize sedans.

“We're going to put him to work,” said Farah. “He's shooting a series of videos, and he's also coming to meetings. He's basically doing everything that an intern does.”

Griffin counts “Old School,” “Wedding Crashers” and “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” among his favorite movies. On Funny Or Die, he likes Zach Galifianakis' mock interview series “Between Two Ferns.”

“I'll go see a bad comedy over a good action movie any day,” Griffin said.

Griffin, who was last season's NBA Rookie of the Year and won the Slam Dunk Contest (in which he leaped over a Kia Optima), has been keeping busy during the NBA lockout. He's done a lot of sponsorship work, been active on Twitter and launched a basketball camp for kids in Oklahoma City.

Though Griffin averaged 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per game last season, he says he's not above fetching coffee in his week as an intern.

“I don't mind doing stuff like that,” said the forward. “It's not a problem for me.”

-- Associated Press

Photo: Blake Griffin, left, watches a camera operator during the first day of Griffin's week-long internship at comedy video website Funny Or Die in Los Angeles. Griffin will spend the week on tasks ranging from running office errands to helping out on productions. Credit: Chris Pizzello / Associated Press