Blake Griffin Shines During Weekend Visit to Panini America Jam Session Booth

NEW ORLEANS — It was easy to find Los Angeles Clippers superstar Blake Griffin on Saturday afternoon inside the packed 2014 NBA All-Star Jam Session. All you had to do was follow the massive media contingent that was fixed on his every move. By the time Griffin entered the Panini America booth at about 1:30 p.m. (with a trail of cameras in hot pursuit), the buzz reverberating throughout the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center was palpable.

Griffin, on hand to help Panini America engage new collectors and NBA fans with a special Jam Session-style break of the new 2013-14 Gold Standard Basketball, took a seat in the middle of the Panini America booth and spent 30 minutes engaging fans, meeting Panini VIPs and offering his best King Midas impersonation by turning every memory he touched into gold.

One by one, Griffin helped Jam Session Box Wars winners open their packs of Gold Standard Basketball, offering insight, commentary and his trademark sense of humor as he flipped through the cards. Between the cool cards themselves and the fact that Griffin was the one opening them, fans young and old alike seemed to be genuinely blown away by the experience.

When he was through opening their boxes, Griffin posed for pictures with and signed autographs for each winner — and then he was nice enough to do a quick interview for The Knight’s Lance. The following must-see video and gallery detail all of the action. Enjoy, and stay tuned for more coverage of the 2014 NBA All-Star Jam Session.

First the video . . .

Now, the gallery . . .