By BRODERICK TURNER
Blake Griffin has been diagnosed with a meniscus tear in his left knee and will have arthroscopic surgery probably early next week, the Clippers announced late Thursday.
Griffin will not be playing for the U.S. Olympic team in London later this month, but he will be available for Clippers training camp that starts in October.
"We're relieved that this does not affect Blake's ability to be ready in time
for training camp," said Clippers' Head Coach Vinny Del Negro. "Missing out on
the Olympic experience will be tough for him to take. I know how dedicated he
was to doing that. We're glad we can get this fixed now and take advantage of
the available time for him to fully recover."
Griffin is expected to be out about eight weeks recovering from the injury and should be fine and ready to play when the season starts, the executives said.
Dr. Neal ElAttrache of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic will perform the surgery.
It's the same knee that Griffin sprained in Game 5 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies and the same knee ElAttrache performed season-ending surgery on for a stress fracture of the kneecap during Griffin's rookie season, 2009-10.
