After a morning filled with rumors, speculation, and second-hand reports, the Los Angeles Clippers have released a statement confirming that Blake Griffin did indeed break his hand throwing a punch during what earlier reports described as an altercation with a team employee. Here’s more from the joint statement from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and president and head coach Doc Rivers:
“L.A. Clippers forward suffered a spiral fracture of the fourth metacarpal in his right hand throwing a punch on Jan. 23 in Toronto.
This conduct has no place in our organization and this incident does not represent who we are as a team. We are conducting a full investigation with assistance from the NBA. At the conclusion of the investigation, appropriate action will be taken.
Griffin received X-rays on Jan. 25th in Los Angeles that revealed the injury and he underwent a procedure on his hand Tuesday morning. The procedure was performed by Dr. Steve Shin. Recovery time from the injury is approximately four to six weeks.”
Griffin has already missed 14 games with a partially torn quadriceps tendon. The Clippers have remarkably gone 11-3 during his absence, but losing their All-Star power forward for another month is going to make life that much more difficult, especially if Griffin is forced to miss even more time beyond that in a possible suspension that could be handed down as a result of the team’s investigation into the incident.
(Via NBA.com)
