As you’ve probably heard, Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin broke his hand back in January by punching the team’s equipment manager, Matias Testi. He was initially expected to miss only 4-6 weeks, but that always sounded a bit far-fetched for a broken shooting hand. Despite setbacks, head coach Doc Rivers maintained optimism that Griffin would return this season. His return date was extended to late March, which seems like it could be accurate, as today(March 26) it was announced that Griffin has been cleared and returned to practice.
From the Clippers’ official announcement, made by Rowan Kavner:
After missing 41 games with quad and hand injuries, Griffin joined his teammates for practice for the first time Saturday since getting medically cleared.
“We’re not going to do much contact anyways,” said head coach Doc Rivers. “He’s just going to go and see what he can do and go from there.”
Rivers said Griffin had been cleared “for a while,” but he still needed time to build up his quad to the point he could practice. That point is now, and when Griffin, Rivers and the Clippers believe he’s ready to play in a game, he’ll then be activated.
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“I don’t know if one practice is enough to activate him,” Rivers said. “We’ve got to activate him when we think he’s ready to play.”
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Rivers said he’d prefer Griffin could get 20 games before the playoff, but he knows that’s no longer realistic with 11 games left in the regular season.
Now, Griffin will get on the floor whenever he’s ready.
“I don’t care if it’s zero (games), to be honest, now, as long as he’s playing to start the playoffs,” Rivers said. “Is that an ideal way of going into a playoff series? No, but I’d rather have him than not. That’s the way I look at it.”
When Griffin officially returns to the court, he will have to serve his 4-game suspension — issued for the same incident in which he broke his hand — immediately.
UPDATE:
Blake Griffin’s return date has been made, according to a Clippers press release.
The L.A. Clippers announced today that forward Blake Griffin has been medically cleared for all basketball activities and will begin serving his four-game, team-imposed suspension on Sunday, March 27 when the Clippers play the Denver Nuggets.
