Clippers News: Blake Griffin says he’s ‘very close’ to returning

There’s still no exact timetable, but Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin has said that he’s “very close” to returning.

After just hearing Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers say that Blake Griffin still isn’t close to returning, the player himself has now said that isn’t the case. There’s no timetable, but according to Griffin, he’s very close to making a comeback after being out with injury following Christmas Day.

On Tuesday night, a ceremony was held at Oklahoma to retire Griffin’s jersey. As a five-time NBA All-Star and top-10 player, it was obviously bound to happen sooner rather than later. After the ceremony, Griffin said he thinks he’s “very close” to returning, even though he’s uncertain of what date that may be.

Of course, Griffin is going to be confident about his return. He’ll want to be positive and seeing as he gave no specified time as to when he thinks he may return, simply saying “very close” still doesn’t reveal too much. Plus, after hearing on February 28 that Doc Rivers has said “he’s not close”, it’s surprising to see Blake say the opposite so soon (per Dan Woike):

"“Obviously, his [hand injury] is more serious,” Austin Rivers said. “He had to have surgery, I didn’t. Mine healed in three weeks; he has a little bit more to go. But he looks great. He’s been on the court working.” …Still, there’s no immediate timetable. Monday will be five weeks since Griffin underwent the initial surgery on his right hand.“I mean, he’s not close or anything,” Doc Rivers said, “he’s just shooting a basketball.”"

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Austin Rivers says Griffin “looks great” and only “has a little bit more to go”, while his dad, Doc, said that “he’s not close”. There are a couple of remarks suggesting different things with the head coach’s probably being somewhat more accurate, so whether Griffin comes back in a two, three or four weeks, is yet to be seen.

Conflicting comments aside, it’s still encouraging for the Clippers and their fans that Griffin think it’s almost time for him to come back. There are about six weeks of the regular season left, so even if he can get back in action towards the end of March, Griffin can at least have a couple of weeks to adjust to playing again before the playoffs start.

While his return will be a fairly significant change after the team has been using a small-ball approach in his absence, the regular starting unit should still return to their usually dominant ways once Griffin settles back in.

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The bench has improved, the Clippers rank a highly impressive 7th in defensive efficiency, and similar small-ball lineups can still be used with the second unit incorporating either Griffin or Cole Aldrich at center. So, as the end of the regular season approaches, the team may be able to reach their best play yet when Blake is back.