The Blake Griffin situation has been a little curious since the Los Angeles Clippers mysteriously ruled him out for their next two games on Monday. Griffin was expected to return to the lineup during their current five-game road trip but they instead shut him down and sent him back home despite the team saying he didn't suffer a setback. The team was technically right, Griffin didn't suffer a setback to his initial quad injury, but he did suffer a broken hand in what was being called an "undisclosed team-related incident". Now we have some clarity as to how Griffin broke his hand as he was involved in an altercation with a staffer of the team, according to Michael Eaves of ESPN.
The altercation was reportedly between Griffin and a member of the Clippers equipment staff. Griffin and the staffer had an argument in Toronto that started inside a restaurant before making its way outside. Once outside, Griffin reportedly hit the staffer multiple times which led to him breaking his hand.
Griffin had already been out with a partially torn quad that cost him the teams last 14 games. There was nothing Griffin could have done about the quad injury but compounding it by breaking his hand while punching an equipment staffer is not a good look for the 26-year-old forward. At this moment it is unclear exactly how bad Griffin's hand is but the expectation is that he will miss weeks as opposed to just days.
On top of the time Griffin will miss while recovering from the broken hand there is a very realistic possibility that he will be suspended by the team, the league, or both. By getting involved in this altercation Griffin has put his team in a very precarious situation as he is one of their best players and they need him on the floor if they are going to make a run in the playoffs like they expect to.
There is no word on what the cause of this altercation was at this point but it is unfortunate for Clippers fans. Griffin was very close to returning to the court and now they will have to wait what looks like, a much longer time for him to play again. The Clippers have gone 11-3 in Griffin's absence so far but that has come against a weak schedule so that record is likely unattainable while Griffin is out.
