Blake Griffin: DeMarcus Cousins should be an All-Star

DeMarcus Cousins has had his run-ins with one of the Clippers’ stars, Chris Paul.

But the Clippers’ other star has plenty of good things to say about the Kings center.

Blake Griffin, via James Ham of Cowbell Kingdom:

“Absolutely,” forward Blake Griffin told Cowbell Kingdom when asked if Cousins is an All-Star. “The way he’s played is incredible and you can’t deny his production, his numbers. You saw what happened when he wasn’t playing, but I say this every year – there are guys that deserve to play in the All-Star game that unfortunately don’t get to play in the All-Star game.”

I agree with Griffin.

With my criteria for selecting All-Stars, I’d definitely rate Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol ahead of Cousins. I could go either way on Griffin and Tim Duncan. With each conference getting six to eight frontcourt players, that still leaves Cousins an All-Star.

Cousins played like an MVP candidate last season, and he’s even better this year. He’s averaging 24.0 points, 12.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals per game – marks hit over a full season by only Kevin Garnett, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob McAdoo. Cousins’ PER, 26.2, ranks sixth in the NBA.

Sure, his effort is sometimes questionable and his his team has struggled, especially since the Kings fired Michael Malone. And Cousins doesn’t care about making it.

But if the coaches are intent on rewarding the best players, Cousins should be an All-Star.