No Alcohol Involved Leading To Blake Griffin Injury; High-Flying Forward Remorseful After Punching Incident
The Los Angeles Clippers hardly lost a step after Blake Griffin's injury, and everybody seems to be focused on forging on after the high-flying forward already owned up to his actions.
The power forward reportedly punched the team's equipment manager, Matias Testi, after an altercation and injured his hand in the process.
The five-time All-Star has since apologized to his teammates and coach Doc Rivers. said he is very remorseful about his mistake.
"He feels awful about it and he's let everyone know that," Rivers said of Blake Griffin's injury in an interview with LA Times. "That's all you can do, man. You have to forgive people at some point. I believe that. We built Richard Nixon a library."
Bu the Los Angeles Clippers coach said that the punching incident was not fueled by alcohol.
"It depends on what you call 'alcohol,'" Rivers said. "I feel like Bill Clinton right now. It really does. Did guys have a drink? I'm sure they did. Other than that, I'm going to say, no, alcohol wasn't involved."
Blake Griffin and Matias Testi are friends prior to the punching incident, and the NBA player even wore stuff from the equipment manager's own clothing line.
Griffin's teammate, DeAndre Jordan, was quoted as saying that it's hard to see his two friends being involved in a fight.
"It's a tough situation," Jordan told CBS Sports. "Two guys that I'm super close with and it's sticky, man. It's tough."
In his written apology, Blake Griffin said he regrets the way he handled the situation.
"A situation among friends escalated and I regret the way I handled myself towards someone I care about," Griffin said on his Twitter account.
"I want to apologize to the Clippers organization, my teammates and the fans for creating a distraction. I am working with the team on a resolution and getting back in the game as soon as possible."
Despite Blake Griffin's injury, the Los Angeles Clippers have gone 7-3 in their last 10 matches.
