Fansided

Blake Griffin played knowing he would likely re-aggravate quad

By John Buhler

Apr 3, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) warms up before the game against the Washington Wizards at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 3, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) warms up before the game against the Washington Wizards at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Blake Griffin reportedly knew that he was probably going to re-aggravate his quad tear by playing in the NBA Playoffs, but chose to help his team instead.

According to Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding, Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin knew the risk involved with him playing through pain in the Western Conference Playoffs. Griffin dealt with a quad tear that sidelined for roughly half of the 2015-16 NBA season.

When the injury first occurred on Christmas Day, Griffin could have opted to have surgery immediate to the fix his torn quad tendon, but he chose to play through pain to help his team during their 2016 Western Conference Playoff run.

The timetable for recovery for that medical procedure would have been anywhere from four to six months, thus essentially ending Griffin’s 2015-16 NBA season. Ding also added that Griffin had initially planned to play for the United States’ Men’s Basketball Team at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro.

Now that’s completely off the table, as Griffin did re-aggravate his torn quad tendon in his team’s Game 4 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night at the Moda Center. Griffin is out the rest of the NBA Playoffs, along with teammate point guard Chris Paul, who broke a bone in his hand during the same game against the Trail Blazers.

Griffin took a ton of flak for punching Clippers equipment manager Matias Testi and breaking his hand in the process. He certainly deserved ridicule for the incident that went down between he and Testi in Toronto this winter, but Griffin did choose to put the Clippers first during their 2016 NBA Playoffs run.

Unfortunately, it seems like Griffin’s efforts won’t be enough for the Clippers to advance past the first round. The Trail Blazers own a 3-2 series lead in this best-of-seven series when Game 6 takes place in Portland on Friday night.

For more 2016 NBA Playoffs coverage, please check out our NBA Playoffs hub page.

Home/Los Angeles Clippers