Blake Griffin’s Small Back Fracture Reveal Comes After Back-Flipping Into Sea

Blake Griffin‘s status for Team USA before the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain this summer is already known: he won’t be participating, and at the time he announced his withdrawal it was because he wanted to rest and prepare for next season with the Clippers. Now ESPN reports he suffered a small back fracture during the playoffs, and doctor’s advised he sit out the World Cup as a precautionary measure. Huh?

Here’s Ramona Shelburne — who never sits out — with the latest on Blake for ESPN:

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin withdrew last week from Team USA training camp for the FIBA World Cup because he was advised by doctors to give a small fracture in his back more time to heal before the start of the next NBA season, sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com.

Griffin is expected to make a full recovery from the injury, which sources say was suffered during the playoffs. However, doctors advised him to sit out international competition this summer for precautionary reasons.

Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times notes the Clippers were unaware of the fracture when it happened during the playoffs, but adds — like Shelburne’s report — it’s the real reason Blake withdrew from participating for Team USA.

Here’s what makes this story even more muddled, as noted by SB Nation’s Tom Ziller and others: Blake was captured doing backflips into the Adriatic Sea with teammate DeAndre Jordan in June, well after the Clippers’ playoff run ended.

Lets rehash what we’ve learned so far. Blake suffered a slight back fracture in the playoffs, something the Clippers didn’t even know about at the time. Then he goes vacationing in Croatia with DJ and does backflips into the Adriatic Sea, something that’s totally awesome and what you’d expect a superstar athlete making millions to do after a grueling NBA regular season and playoff run — made further stressful by the Donald Sterling brouhaha.

Then Blake drops out of Team USA camp under the guise it’s to rest for next season; except, he’s really suffered a small back fracture during the playoffs — according to Shelburne, whose sources we don’t doubt — and was advised by doctors to sit out international competition this summer as a precautionary measure.

We’re pretty sure those same doctors would advise Blake to avoid backflips of any kind as a preventative course of action, too. The timeline just doesn’t make sense.

What do you think?

Follow Spencer on Twitter at @SpencerTyrel.

Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.

Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.

×