Blake Griffin pulled him out of Team USA's training camp for the FIBA World Cup because of a small fracture in his back, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles. Griffin is expected to make a full recovery by the time next season starts, but doctors didn't want him competing in the World Cup as a precautionary measure, reports Shelburne.
Blake Griffin injury: Back fracture caused Clippers star to withdraw from Team USA
Griffin is sitting out of the World Cup as a precautionary measure.
Stephen Dunn
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Griffin was one of three high-profile power forwards to withdraw from the squad, joining Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge and Minnesota's Kevin Love as players who opted to decline an invitation to try out for the national team. Paul Millsap was added to the training camp roster after Griffin and Love pulled out last week. Millsap will join a frontcourt list that already includes Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Drummond and Kenneth Faried.
The 25-year-old Griffin averaged a career-high 24.1 points per game last year on 52.8 percent shooting from the field. He’s been named an All-Star all four seasons of his career.
The 2014 FIBA World Cup starts Aug. 30 in Spain.
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