NBA player Blake Griffin and singer Jhene Aiko are celebrating their birthdays today, March 16.
Blake Griffin, 26
NBA player Blake Griffin turns 26 today. Griffin played high school basketball with his father serving as head coach at Oklahoma Christian School. After a successful high school career, he attended the University of Oklahoma. In his sophomore year, Griffin won all six of the national player of the year awards. In 2009, He earned the Naismith College Player of the Year.
After his sophomore year in college, Griffin entered the NBA draft and was selected as the first overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009 NBA Draft. He missed the entire 2009–10 season after a knee injury and was still considered a rookie during the 2010–11 season. He was later voted into the 2011 NBA All-Star Game and entered the Rookie Challenge and won the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Griffin also won all six awards at the Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors.
Griffin was voted to play as a starter for the first time in the 2012 NBA All-Star Game. He was also selected to compete for Team USA in the 2012 London Summer Olympics, but was removed after an injury.
For the 2013-14 season, under new head coach Doc Rivers, Griffin made his fourth consecutive All-Star appearance and third consecutive start. He also averaged a career-high 24.1 points per game. The LA Clippers made it to the conference semi-finals, but lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Griffin has a son named Ford Wilson Cameron-Griffin.
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Jhene Aiko, 27
Singer and songwriter Jhene Aiko turns 27 today. Aiko began her music career by contributing vocals to several B2K releases. Aiko was featured in five tracks on B2K's remix album, B2K: The Remixes – Volume 1, in hopes of jump starting her career. Her song "Dog" was included as a bonus track for their next album, Pandemonium!. She also had songs on the soundtracks of Barbershop, The Master of Disguise, You Got Served and The Proud Family.
Aiko asked to be released from the label Epic, and therefore, her debut album was never released. She took a break from music to focus on her education and returned in 2007 with her mixtape, Sailing Soul(s), which features collaborations from Miguel, Drake, Kanye West and more.
Aiko signed to Artium Records in 2012. She released "3:16AM" as the first single from her Debut EP, Sail Out. She was later featured on the Big Sean song "Beware" which hit the top 40 in the United States. She was also featured in Drake's "Wu-Tang Forever" and "From Time."
Aiko released her debut album, Souled Out, in 2014. The album debuted at No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and US R&B Albums charts.
Aiko received three Grammy nominations including Best R&B Song for "The Worst," Best Urban Contemporary Album for Sail Out and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Blak Majik" with rapper Common.
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