Blake Griffin done for season

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

http://www.nba.com/clippers/news/breakingnews100113.html


After experiencing some discomfort during his recently-accelerated rehabilitation program, Clippers’ forward Blake Griffin was examined Tuesday afternoon by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
As a result of that examination, it has been determined that the healing in his left patella area has not improved to the expected required level. Griffin will undergo a surgical procedure in the near future, with a recovery prognosis of four to six months. Team personnel will be made available to the media. Further details will be made available as events develop.

Previously on December 23rd, after undergoing a CT Scan and MRI Griffin had been cleared to increase his rehabilitation workload.

Griffin, the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft, suffered a non-displaced stress fracture of his left patella during the Clippers’ last preseason game vs. the New Orleans Hornets on Friday, October 23rd.

Clippers >>>>> Blazers

[hater]

Oden 2.0

[Hornets1]

Wow! The Clippers' curse continues.....

[Muser]

Ouch.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

and yet he is still better than Thabeet :lmao

[Pistons < Spurs]

What a major disappointment. I was looking forward to him seeing some action in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully he fully recovers from these procedures.

[koriwhat]

what are the odds in 3 yrs that 2 #1 picks both go down their rookie yr before seeing any action past preseason? wow, just wow!

[Greg Oden]

Misery loves company.

[angelbelow]

thats a shame..

[JamStone]

What a pussy... what an Oden.

[Obstructed_View]

Damn shame. I was really looking forward to seeing this kid play. Unlike Oden, I still think Griff will make an all-star game or two before he's done.

[lebomb]

Man....... that sucks.

[TheSullyMonster]

Fucking clippers.

[xtremesteven33]

Clippers curse is no longer a joke...seriously

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

sucks...

[ffadicted]

lol Oden #2

I've been saying for the past few years, when in doubt, DON'T go with the big man lol. Durant > Oden, Rose > Beasly, Tyreke > Griffin

[The Gemini Method]

This sucks for Blake...the Clippers were starting to play decent ball and were expecting him to come in and do his thing. Oh well, I guess if I'm in the top-10 position in the draft, I would avoid Portland/Clippers at all costs...

[DBMethos]

Can't say Bill Simmons didn't warn him...

[ElNono]

Bonner/Finley/Mason for Camby and/or BDiddy... Do it

[Brazil]

it sucks for him and for my fantasy team, I was waiting for this guy since forever, fuck!

[pad300]

We gotta do something about the draft lottery. Maybe spread it out some so that all 30 teams are involved. It just suck so much when good prospects are doomed through no fault of thre own, going to clippers (Griffin), the blazers (Oden), franchises like that...

[IronMexican]

Can't say Bill Simmons didn't warn him...

:lol What I thought of as I saw this thread.

[djohn2oo8]

Bonner/Finley/Mason for Camby and/or BDiddy... Do it

Not even the Clippers want your trash

[TheMACHINE]

wow ..Portland and the Clippers should never be #1 picks ever again.

[duncan228]

Griffin optimistic despite 'debut-prolonging injury' (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/basketball/nba/01/14/clippers.griffin.ap/index.html)

Blake Griffin prefers not to think of his broken left kneecap as a season-ending injury.

"I guess you could say it's a debut-prolonging injury," he said with a wry grin Thursday.

The No. 1 pick in last year's NBA draft is coming to terms with the fact he won't get his first real action with the Los Angeles Clippers until next season. The club announced Wednesday he'll undergo surgery to heal his knee, which hasn't recovered from a preseason stress fracture.

Yet the good-natured power forward still seemed optimistic at the Clippers' Playa Vista training complex. He's already making plans to return decisively from an injury that will keep him out of basketball for at least four months.

"I'm going to attack it and make it into something positive," said Griffin, last season's consensus college player of the year at Oklahoma. "Hopefully I can speed up the recovery process as much as possible. It's better to take care of it now and not have to deal with it in the future."

Griffin knows patience will be part of his recovery process -- no easy achievement for a player who said he hadn't been away from basketball for more than 13 days in his life until he felt a sharp pain in his kneecap after dunking in the Clippers' final preseason game. He attempted to return with rest and rehabilitation instead of surgery, even running on a treadmill without much pain as recently as last week.

But some recent bounding exercises caused significant discomfort in his knee, and Griffin finally realized surgery was the only way to get right again. Nothing is structurally wrong with Griffin's knee, and he's been told he can return at full strength.

"I wouldn't be able to have full strength," Griffin said. "I'd be playing at 75 percent for the rest of the season. I'd much rather get this done now, and be able to play 100 percent next season."

Griffin's aggressive play and relentless work ethic turned him into a star with the Sooners and made him the top pick. He has followed a regimented schedule of weightlifting, proper diet and basketball work for years, but Griffin's first months in the NBA have taught him he's not invincible.

"Making sure you don't push your body too hard, that's tough to do," he said.

Griffin will be on crutches for at least a week after surgery, which is expected to be next Wednesday. He hopes to be back at full strength by summer so he can begin preparations for his second crack at his rookie season -- perhaps without the usual rookie hazing.

"Hopefully next year I won't have to get doughnuts or wear a backpack," Griffin said with a grin. "I'm going to sit down with the veterans for a meeting."

Griffin realizes many in basketball aren't even slightly shocked that the long-struggling Clippers had such a bad injury break. Danny Manning and Michael Olowokandi, the previous No. 1 overall draft picks by the Clippers, also missed parts of their rookie seasons for a club that has just two winning seasons in 30 years and only one playoff series victory since moving to Los Angeles in 1984.

"Every team has injuries," Griffin said. "Obviously when a guy on the Clippers [gets hurts], everybody is going to say, 'Oh, man.' But injuries happen. They're just part of sports."

[redzero]

That's what you get for dunking on my team in a pre-season game.

[Bukefal]

That sucks, I was waiting to see him play in the NBA. I think when he get's back, from that point he will always be a underachiever, to the standards people have from him. He is overrated. This only makes it worse.