Blake Griffin apologized Tuesday for punching a Los Angeles Clippers equipment staffer in late January in an incident that left the star with a broken hand.
Blake Griffin says he is ‘truly sorry’ for punching Clippers staffer
The Los Angeles Clippers star apologized for his “poor judgement.”
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
“I just want to say that I have had a lot of time to reflect, and that I am very truly, truly sorry for what happened,” Griffin told reporters after a Clippers’ practice. “It was a situation between two friends that kind of got out of hand, and I exercised poor judgment. I have spoken to Matias about it. I have spoken to my teammates about it ... coaches. The last people to apologize to are the fans and to show them how sorry I am for this situation.”
Griffin, 26, was rehabbing from a partially torn quad when he broke his hand after punching assistant manager Matias Testi, who is also a friend of Griffin. He had already missed 14 games, but recovery from a broken hand takes four to six weeks. He has sat out about three weeks of that time. The Clippers suspended Griffin four games for the fight. That suspension will go into effect once Griffin is healthy.
“It is something that I feel awful about,” Griffin said on Tuesday.
Before his injuries, Griffin was averaging 23.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. He has missed the last 23 games because of injury. The Clippers have gone 18-5 without him.
Griffin had been involved in multiple trade rumors as Thursday's trade deadline approaches, but on Tuesday, Doc Rivers attempted to halt the speculation. "We're not trading Blake," Rivers said.
Here’s video of Griffin’s full statement.
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