Clippers’ Blake Griffin injured hand by hitting staff member

We may know how Blake Griffin injured his hand now: for hitting a member of the Los Angeles Clippers’ equipment staff.

Well, this is one of the strangest headlines I’ve written since covering the Los Angeles Clippers. However, according to another report, Blake Griffin picked up his right hand injury by hitting a member of the Clippers’ equipment staff.

Initially, Griffin was only dealing with a partially torn quadricep tendon until Marc Stein of ESPN reported that it was suspected he broke his hand in an “undisclosed team-related incident”.

Now, there’s more background to the story.

Michael Eaves of ESPN has added that, unbelievably, Griffin actually suffered the injury by hitting a member of staff. So, if he has broken his hand, it must have been a pretty strong blow.

Without doubt, this is one of the weirdest and quite frankly disappointing Clippers headlines you’ll read all season. We’ll have to wait and see if any other reports or official updates emerge to be able to confirm exactly what has happened, but in the meantime, it looks like this is the reason for his injury.

Plus, as Stein only included the vague phrase “undisclosed team-related incident” in his initial report, it makes sense that the act of hitting a staff member would only be released as a team “incident”.

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The issue of Griffin’s hand was already a problem because after initial reports of a simple hand injury became “suspected broken hand”, the lingering concern of when he’ll be back only increases. He’s already been out following the Clippers’ Christmas Day game against the Lakers, and even though the team have stepped up to earn a 11-3 record in his absence, his return is still what the Clips and their fans are looking forward to.

After a low effort performance against the Toronto Raptors in a 112-94 loss on Sunday that saw the bench play terribly, the wait for his comeback feels longer and longer.

Besides the injury itself, Griffin’s actions aren’t excusable. It goes without saying that no player should be getting into confrontations and striking members of staff, and this applies even more to a star player and team leader like Griffin.

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When this report is completely guaranteed we may have a better indication of when he’ll actually return, and whether or not the Clippers or the NBA will need to enforce some kind of suspension for the off-court behaviour. Be sure to stay tuned here at Clipperholics for more updates.

Update:

According to The Guardian, Griffin has sustained a fracture from the altercation and will still be out for a matter of weeks:

"Sources said the injury is expected to keep him out for “a matter of weeks, as opposed to days”. The suspected fracture is unrelated to the torn quadriceps muscle that has sidelined Griffin since 26 December.Sources said the Clippers are still evaluating the severity of the new injury but are expected to provide an update Tuesday."

Another injury for Blake and off-court fights really aren’t what the Clippers’ supporters wanted to hear.