Blake Griffin’s surgically repaired hand remains really swollen
One week after undergoing surgery to repair a bone he broke by punching a Los Angeles Clippers equipment manager in the face during an argument at a restaurant during a team road trip, Blake Griffin’s right hand still awwwwwful swollen.
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Our first look at Griffin’s mournful mitt comes courtesy of TMZ:
Blake Griffin — My Punching Hand Is Swell … First Pics of Busted Fist https://t.co/1rY9klBOcU
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) February 3, 2016
Yep — that looks like an appendage that won’t be ready to fire off jumpers, grab rebounds or finish the pick-and-roll with thunder any time soon.
Griffin and Clippers assistant equipment manager Matias Testi were engaging “in some of their routine back-and-forth teasing” during a dinner in Toronto “when things became heated,” which resulted in Griffin throwing multiple punches at Testi. Griffin suffered a spiral fracture of the fourth metacarpal in his shooting hand; Testi suffered a badly swollen face.
Griffin later apologized for “creating a distraction” with the incident, and said he regretted his actions toward “someone I care about.” Clippers head coach Doc Rivers has indicated he will welcome Griffin and Testi back to the team, in the spirit of forgiveness and with a reference to Tricky Dick.
The power forward, who hasn’t played since suffering a partially torn quadriceps tendon on Christmas Day, is expected to miss four to six weeks after going under the knife, a timetable that Rivers initially suggested seemed too optimistic to him. Griffin’s return will depend not only on physical factors like how quickly the bone heals and the swelling goes down, but also on the results of an ongoing league investigation into the incident that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told USA TODAY’s Sam Amick will wrap up soon:
“The only update right now is we’re continuing to investigate,” Silver told USA TODAY Sports by phone from his New York office. “There (are) a lot of people that we want to talk to, and ultimately ensure that we have as complete an understanding as possible as to exactly what happened.
“I’d say from the league’s standpoint, of course it’s the last thing that you want to see happen. And whether it’s in the NBA, or in any industry, you have one co-worker, in essence, punching another co-worker. That’s a terrible thing. Blake has acknowledged that. But at the same time, I know he recognizes that there are consequences of his actions.”
After the league concludes its inquiry, it will have to determine whether Griffin should receive any additional punishment. If Silver and company find that he warrants an extra few games on ice, he’d have to serve them after he returned to the active roster from his injuries. While the Clippers would love to get some clarity on what Griffin’s short-term future availability will look like, Rivers also gets why the league might also not have rocketed Blake’s case to the top of the list of priorities.
“The fact that Blake’s injured, I guess, is easier in that way because he’s injured,” Rivers said, according to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. “It would be a lot harder if he was healthy and we were waiting for a decision. That would be difficult. We would not be happy with how long this has taken. But because of the injury, I think it doesn’t push us that much.”
After Wednesday’s surprising loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Clips will head out for a four-game road trip. Griffin is not expected to join them, according to Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram:
Rivers intimated this week he wanted to wait until Griffin’s discipline was given before deciding whether to bring Griffin along.
However, he said Wednesday that Griffin probably wouldn’t have made the trip anyway.
“The only reason he was on the Toronto part of the [recent] trip was because we thought there was a chance he was going to play on that trip,” Rivers said. “We don’t typically travel guys that are injured.”
Griffin still assuredly falls into that category. We’ve got pictures to prove it.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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