By now, the Blake Griffin story is well known. The star power forward of the Los Angeles Clippers broke his hand while hitting a member of the team's equipment staff and is expected to miss significant time because of the injury. The story isn't fully known regarding how the whole situation happened or why it escalated to that level, but we do know that Griffin will likely face some sort of significant backlash. There are people wondering whether the Clippers need to trade Griffin after this incident and it is definitely a fair question.
On the one hand you have the thought process that Griffin was in a spat with one of his best friends and it got a little out of control, something that can happen to anyone. On the other hand though, you have the fact that most people are not the face of an NBA franchise so Griffin clearly needs to be held to a higher standard. This also happens to not be Griffin's first run in with the law since being in the NBA. Griffin was charged with one count of misdemeanor battery back in November of 2014 when a man claimed that Griffin slapped him and took his cell phone, according to Austin Knoblauch of the Los Angeles Times.
Those charges were dropped, but it is a disturbing pattern that is developing for one of the young stars in the NBA and it isn't unfair to think the Clippers should move on from him. The other factor that comes into play here is Griffin the player. He is an extraordinary player and is under contract for two years beyond this one. If the Clippers do decide to trade him they will be losing arguably their best player and a guy who they built their franchise around for the past few years. It would set them back significantly.
Griffin would likely garner plenty of interest on the trade market should the Clippers decide to shop him but there is also no chance they will get his full value back in return after an incident like this. Griffin released a statement apologizing for his actions, but he put his team in a really bad situation. He will likely miss close to two months with his broken hand after already having missed almost a month with a quad injury. The Clippers have championship hopes this season and Griffin's horrible, embarrassing decision could be their undoing. This incident has proven he is not someone that the Clippers can rely on, at least not right now, so a trade would not be shocking at this point.
There is also the issue of whether Griffin's teammates would be able to welcome him back into the locker room. As Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times, it's nowhere near a guarantee. Chris Paul's title window is closing fast and this team might have the best chance to give him the championship he has been looking for throughout his career. That now seems highly unlikely.
The Clippers definitely have a tough decision to make here but no matter what they choose to do it shouldn't surprise too many people. Griffin is one of the best players in basketball so it might be easier to forgive him for something like this but he is also the face of the franchisem, a guy who is supposed to play well and make the organization look good. Griffin failed in the latter area when he decided to punch the equipment manager in the face and because of that his days in L.A. could very well be numbered.
