Los Ang
eles Clippers star Blake Griffin was sent to the hospital on Sunday before their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with an infection in his elbow.
The Clippers team doctor noticed the infection in his elbow just prior to the game as they landed in Oklahoma City and had Griffin sent to the hospital immediately for further evaluation.
Luckily for him and LA, doctors discovered a staph infection in his right elbow and were able to halt the infection before things got worse for the former University of Oklahoma star. It is being reported that he will undergo surgery on the el
bow on Monday and is out until at least after the All-Star Break, and will be further evaluated after the weekend.
Griffin has actually been dealing with bursitis in the same elbow throughout his career and routinely has it drained during the course of the season. He most recently had it drained on Feb.2 when the Clips were in New York playing the Brooklyn Nets, and wore a sleeve over the elbow to protect it.
According to some sources, he could be out from anywhere between two and six weeks. With the recent struggles on the road for the Clippers, topped off by a trouncing by OKC on Sunday 131-108, his absence is going to spell trouble for a team who is 1-5 in their last six games.
Arash Markazi from ESPN.com has more on Griffin’s status:
“You could tell when something is infected. You can just look at it,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Sunday. “With a bursa sac, it could just be that too, but it just didn’t look right. [Powell] caught that and sent him early enough — thank goodness.”
There is no official timeline for Griffin’s absence, but multiple team sources have told ESPN that the All-Star could be out between two and six weeks.
“It could be serious. It shouldn’t be, but you have to be very careful with that injury,” Rivers said. “It’s the unknown. With a sprained ankle, you know 10 days. But with infections, they’re infections, and you just have to be very careful. You cannot mess around with it.”
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Griffin was walking around the Clippers’ locker room before Sunday’s game with his right elbow taped. He didn’t speak to reporters but will be with the team Sunday before flying back to Los Angeles after the game.
“You’re more concerned about him than anything else because infections are no joke,” Rivers said. “You just have to be careful. Everybody’s bodies are different with infections, and all infections are different. They’re not even sure what antibiotics you give him yet. They have to do all the culture work and stuff. I don’t know [how long he’ll be out]. It could be a while.”
The Clippers’ leading scorer, Griffin is averaging 22.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and a career-high 5.1 assists per game this season. The All-Star forward was third in the league’s MVP balloting last year.
As I said before, Griffin’s absence is going to missed greatly down the stretch run of the season and in the very tough Western Conference. Take a look at the rough schedule they have ahead of them, all of which he’ll likely be sidelined for until we know more on the injury: @ Dallas, vs. Houston, vs. San Antonio, vs. Sacramento, vs. Memphis, @ Houston, @ Memphis, @ Chicago.
That’s not what they Clippers want to see without one of their two best players. With the injury, Griffin will miss this weekend’s All-Star Game where he was voted in as a starter.
DAMIAN LILLARD TO REPLACE GRIFFIN IN ASG
By now you know that Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard was left off the All-Star roster when he wasn’t selected as a starter or a reserve in January. I’m sure you also know by now that he was very vocal and angry about his being left off the roster, and in my eyes, deservedly so.
Lillard was probably the biggest snub of this year’s roster, just ahead of DeMarcus Cousins. But as of Sunday afternoon after learning of Blake Griffin’s injury, Dame and Boogie will be heading to New York for All-Star Weekend after all.
To no one’s surprise, Commissioner Adam Silver chose Damian Lillard as Blake Griffin’s replacement, which really shouldn’t have had to happen for him to make it to the event in the first place. His per game averages this year are higher in multiple categories than last year when he was voted in as an All-Star, including points, assists, rebounds and steals.
Good thing for the NBA that Lillard was selected for his second-straight ASG, but not that it had to come with two injuries for him to be chosen.
He told the media and posted stuff on his Twitter and Instagram that he was “pissed off” about him not making the team, and was very open and vocal about his opinion. Here was a piece from Joe Freeman of The Oregonian:
Will you use this as motivation?
“I’m definitely going to take it personal. I said I’d be pissed off about it. And I am. I just felt disrespected. Because I play the game the right way, I play unselfishly, I play for my team to win games and I produce at a high level. I think what I bring to the game as a person, my makeup mentally, how I am toward my teammates, how I am toward the media, how I am toward fans; I think what an All-Star represents in this league, and what you would want people to look at as an All-Star, I think I make up all those things. For me to be having the type of season that I’m having, which is better than any one that I’ve had before, and my team to be third in the Western Conference, I just see it as disrespect. I’m not one of those guys that’s going to say, ‘Oh, I should be in over this guy or that guy.’ I’m not a hater. I’ve got respect for each guy that made the roster. And I think they deserve to (make the team). But at the same time, I feel really disrespected, and that’s just honestly how I feel.”
Either way, Dame is in the All-Star Game this coming weekend, which is exactly where he belongs. I think the bigger question about the roster is who didn’t deserve to make it this year, rather than who did.
UNC COACHING LEGEND DEAN SMITH DIES AT 83
University of North Carolina coaching legend Dean Smith passed away on Saturday night, Feb.7, at the age of 83. A Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame head coach, Smith coached the Tar Heels from 1961 to 1997, and retired as the all-time wins leader in college basketball history.
Yes, he was a college coach, but he coached some of the greatest players who would eventually go on to star and coach in the NBA, including Michael Jordan, James Worthy, George Karl, and Jerry Stackhouse.
Scott Phillips of CollegeBasketballTalk has more on Smith, including a quote from his family:
“Coach Dean Smith passed away peacefully the evening of February 7 at his home in Chapel Hill, and surrounded by his wife and five children,” Smith’s family said in a statement. “We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers, and appreciate the continued respect for our privacy as arrangements are made available to the public. Thank you.”
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Smith had a career record of 879-254 and set the Division I men’s basketball wins mark by surpassing Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp with his 877th victory over Colorado in the 1997 NCAA Tournament. Also the winner of 13 ACC championships and an Olympic Gold Medal in 1976, Smith won at least 20 games in a season a remarkable 30 times in his final 31 seasons, including a record 27 consecutive 20-win seasons.
Smith now sits fourth on the all-time wins list in college basketball behind Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, and Bob Knight.
The reaction to Smith’s passing by players and coaches throughout the league and the country were only that of great respect and true appreciation.
Among those with a public statement regarding his death was Michael Jordan, from Brett Pollakoff of ProBasketballTalk:
“Other than my parents, no one had a bigger influence on my life than Coach Smith. He was more than a coach — he was my mentor, my teacher, my second father. Coach was always there for me whenever I needed him and I loved him for it. In teaching me the game of basketball, he taught me about life. My heart goes out to Linnea and their kids. We’ve lost a great man who had an incredible impact on his players, his staff and the entire UNC family.”
Smith won National Championships with the Tar Heels in 1982 and 1993, and made 11 Final Four appearances. As witnessed on Sunday after learning of his death, he will be sorely missed by a great number of people.
LEBRON ADMITS “FIT-IN” TWEET DIRECTED TOWARDS LOVE
Social media can be a great thing. It can also be a very, very bad thing. For example, when someone who has no fi
lter gets to tweeting, things can bad in a hurry.
But, there are times when subtle, or not-so-subtle, tweets can be something of a blessing in disguise. However, I’m not going to go that far to say such a thing after only one game, but it’s a good start.
I’m talking about LeBron James and Kevin Love, and the tweet that the King sent out late Saturday night about fitting in instead of fitting out:
Stop trying to find a way to FIT-OUT and just FIT-IN. Be apart of something special! Just my thoughts
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 8, 2015
That of course, relates to Kevin Love’s comments from Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com from Twitter back in October:
Kevin Love’s quote from Oct. 14 about trying to “fit out” with the Cavs (from this story: http://t.co/fDCSlAszmt) pic.twitter.com/LDkAYwJ6SK
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 8, 2015
When you put all of these pieces together, they form a pretty interesting puzzle. Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal, with the help of McMenamin, put those pieces together:
5. The use of “fit in” and “fit out,” plus the emphasis on both (all caps) seemed a bit too similar to be coincidental. Yet when he was asked about it while surrounded by the large media contingent, James denied he was aiming the tweet at any one specific person.
6. “It was more about people in general,” James said. “It was a general thought I had. Obviously whatever thought I have people try to encrypt it and Da Vinci code it and all that stuff. People are always trying to fit out instead of fit in and be part of something special. That’s what it’s all about.”
7. After the large pack of cameras and recorders dissipated, a few of the regular beat writers stuck around a few extra minutes. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, who used the original “fit in/fit out” Love quote in an October story for ESPN, showed James the original quote. He smiled.
8. When we pressed him on it some more, James laughed and said, “It’s not a coincidence, man.”
9. I was shocked. McMenamin was shocked. No recorders were running, no cameras were live. It was just some guys standing around talking. The conversation continued for a few more minutes before James dressed and headed for the door. I stopped him just to be clear.
10. “When we’re standing around BSing like that, do you consider it on the record or off the record?” I asked. James responded: “Ain’t nothing off the record. I know everything that comes out of my mouth. If I say it, it’s on the record.” Then he pointed at McMenamin and walked out of the locker room.
These quotes were taken after the Cavs blew out the Lakers 120-105 on Sunday afternoon. Kevin Love posted a season-high 32 points in the victory.
Could that be a sign of good and better things to come for Love with the Cavaliers? We will soon find out.