Injury will keep Blake Griffin out of Olympics

Former OCS and OU star has torn meniscus in his left knee. He should be ready in time for the Los Angeles Clippers' training camp.

 
By Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times | Published: July 12, 2012    Comment on this article Leave a comment

LOS ANGELES — Blake Griffin has been diagnosed with a meniscus tear in his left knee and will have arthroscopic surgery probably early next week, the Los Angeles Clippers announced in a news release late Thursday.

photo - FILE - In this May 15, 2012, file photo, Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin reaches for a rebound during the first quarter of Game 1 of an NBA basketball Western Conference semifinal playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio. The Clippers signed Griffin to a five-year contract extension that could be worth up to $95 million, the team announced on Tuesday, July 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) ORG XMIT: NY157
FILE - In this May 15, 2012, file photo, Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin reaches for a rebound during the first quarter of Game 1 of an NBA basketball Western Conference semifinal playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio. The Clippers signed Griffin to a five-year contract extension that could be worth up to $95 million, the team announced on Tuesday, July 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) ORG XMIT: NY157

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Griffin, a former star at Oklahoma Christian School and the University of Oklahoma, will not be playing for the U.S. Olympic team in London later this month, but he will be available for Clippers training camp, which starts in October.

Griffin is expected to be out about eight weeks recovering from the injury and should be fine and ready to play when the season starts.

“We're relieved that this does not affect Blake's ability to be ready in time for training camp,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said in a news release. “Missing out on the Olympic experience will be tough for him to take. I know how dedicated he was to doing that. We're glad we can get this fixed now and take advantage of the available time for him to fully recover."

Dr. Neal ElAttrache will perform the surgery.

It's the same knee that Griffin sprained in Game 5 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies and the same knee ElAttrache performed season-ending surgery on for a stress fracture of the kneecap during Griffin's rookie season, 2009-10. But this injury is unrelated to that surgery.

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