Blake Griffin has emerged as a true superstar of the NBA. This is, by far, the best season of his young career. Things are looking way up for the Clippers' superstar!

There was hardly a Clippers game which did not have a Griffin highlight, and if ESPN Sportscenter actually kept tabs, Griffin is a sure candidate to be the player most often featured.

But if you look closely at his dunks, you would notice that his overall game has evolved. He's no longer 'just a dunker.' He's a legitimate force inside the paint.

Critics would dismiss his dunks as being lob passes from the point guards-especially from Chris Paul, who's probably the best passer in the NBA. But only a small percentage of these dunks came from alley-oops. Some of them were from fastbreaks, many of them were putbacks (which speaks a lot about his rebounding effort) and from his own low-post moves. In fact, Chris Paul missed 20 regular season games but Griffin kept on dunking and winning during that stretch.

Has Blake Griffin lived up to his potential?

His coach, Doc Rivers thinks so. He actually believes Blake Griffin should be second in the MVP race behind Kevin Durant-which means he should be ahead of LeBron James.

From ESPN: "I think second because I'm coaching him. I think Durant has had the best year. I still think LeBron [James] is still the best player in the NBA but I think Durant has had an MVP year. I don't know who has had a better year. And I honestly think Blake would be right behind him."

Of course, Rivers would have some personal bias for his stud. The stats tell a different story:

"LeBron's season hasn't been up to his ridiculous standard, but he has still be terrific, averaging 27.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists with a PER of 29.36, ranking him second in the league.

Griffin is averaging 24.1 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists with a PER of 23.84 (10th overall). But the case to be made for Griffin isn't what he's done with raw statistics as much as it's in how he carried the team playing without Chris Paul, who missed more than month with a shoulder injury. During that stretch Griffin played some of the best basketball of his career as the Clippers went 12-6 without Paul, scoring 112.3 points per 100 possessions. That was largely due to Griffin's brilliance, who assumed the role as the offensive focal point."

Still, Blake Griffin's improvement has made him a Top 5 player this year, and a Top 10 player in the league regardless of the year. It's a far cry from being just highlight fodder.