LOS ANGELES (AP) — Blake Griffin prefers not to think of his broken left kneecap as a season-ending injury.
Instead, he called it a debut-prolonging injury Thursday.
The No. 1 pick in last year’s NBA draft is coming to terms with the fact he won’t get his first real action with the Los Angeles Clippers until next season. He’s expected to undergo surgery next week to fix his kneecap, which hasn’t recovered from a preseason stress fracture.
Yet the good-natured power forward still seemed optimistic at the Clippers’ Playa Vista training complex. He’s already making plans to return aggressively from an injury that will keep him out of basketball for at least four months, saying he’ll attack his rehabilitation while also being more careful.