"Vinny Del Negro had plenty of time to work on the remarks he was about to deliver to a gathering of media, Clippers employees, season-ticket holders and corporate sponsors in the team's training center Wednesday afternoon.

About 10 months, give or take.

Del Negro, hired as the Clippers coach last July, started polishing his Rookie of the Year introduction for Blake Griffin "the first day I walked into the gym and saw Blake shooting baskets," he said, moments before Griffin accepted the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy as the 2010-11 NBA Rookie of the Year.

Demonstrating as much common sense as they did unanimity, each of the 118 sportswriters and broadcasters who cast ballots had Griffin at No. 1.

Griffin, the first rookie selected to the All-Star Game since Yao Ming in 2003, is the first unanimous selection since David Robinson of San Antonio 21 years ago - a couple of months after Tommy and Gail Griffin's youngest son hadjust celebrated his first birthday in Oklahoma City.

The 6-foot-9 forward who averaged 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists, becoming making him the only player to average at least 20/12/3 this season.

Griffin assumed that New Orleans point guard Chris Paul had been the most recent unanimous rookie choice. When told he was the first player to be so honored since the Hall of Fame center who helped the Spurs win two championships and the U.S. capture three Summer Olympics gold medals, Griffin was taken aback - in a good way.

"Wow! That feels great!" he said. "That's awesome. I really appreciate the recognition."

Everyone who follows basketball knows there isn't a more spectacular player in the game. There's certainly enough video documentation to support that notion."