* Knee injury could rule Griffin out of Olympics
* Davis takes his place in warm-up vs Dominican Republic
(recasts, adds quotes details)
July 12 (Reuters) – Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake
Griffin has been diagnosed with a torn medial meniscus in his
left knee and will be unable to compete on the U.S. basketball
team at the London Olympics, the Los Angeles Times reported on
Thursday.
Griffin, who signed a five-year contract extension with the
Clippers worth nearly $100 million this week, is expected to be
sidelined for eight weeks, the Times reported, citing NBA
executives as sources.
Griffin complained of soreness in his knee the day after a
full scrimmage with the champion U.S. Olympic team in Las Vegas
and returned to Los Angeles for a medical examination, with his
NBA coach also suggesting he had been ruled out of the Games.
“Missing out on the Olympic experience will be tough for him
to take. I know how dedicated he was to doing that,” Clippers
coach Vinny Del Negro said in a statement.
“We’re glad we can get this fixed now and take advantage of
the available time for him to fully recover (and) we’re relieved
that this does not affect Blake’s ability to be ready in time
for (NBA) training camp.”
The Clippers said Griffin would be further evaluated by a
specialist on Sunday, while the newspaper said it was likely he
would undergo arthroscopic surgery next week.
The forward, who averaged 20.7 points and 10.9 rebounds last
season and is known for his electrifying dunks, missed
Thursday’s 113-59 U.S. romp over the Dominican Republic in the
team’s first of five games in their run-up to the Olympics and
was replaced by Anthony Davis.
Davis, the number one pick of the NBA Draft by the New
Orleans Hornets after being named college player of the year
after leading Kentucky to the NCAA championship, scored nine
points after entering the rout in the fourth quarter.
Earlier, USA Basketball chief Jerry Colangelo said Griffin
would have to formally withdraw from the team before Davis, an
alternate on the roster, could officially take his place.
“As we understand it, he hurt his knee at the end of the
(NBA) season and had a decision to make about being scoped
(arthroscopic surgery) or not,” Colangelo said during ESPN’s
broadcast of the game against the Dominican Republic.
“He decided not to. He seemed really strong at camp and had
no issues. Even yesterday he had a terrific workout. He felt
great last night but woke up with some discomfort and some
swelling so now we wait to see what’s going to take place.”
Colangelo said Davis would stay with the team until a
determination was made about Griffin’s status.
Griffin is just the latest in a long string of U.S. players
hit by injuries ahead of the July 27-Aug. 12 London Games.
Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose, Orlando Magic center
Dwight Howard, and Miami’s center/forward Chris Bosh and guard
Dwyane Wade have already been ruled out due to injuries.
The Americans have four more games before the Olympics.
They will train in Washington, D.C., from July 13-15 and
play Brazil at the Verizon Center on July 16 before moving to
Manchester, England to play Britain on July 19 and then go to
Barcelona for games against Argentina on July 22 and Spain on
July 24.
(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank
Pingue/Greg Stutchbury)
