Clippers’ Mike Dunleavy says Blake Griffin’s injury won’t require surgery

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Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy doesn’t know how forward and No. 1 draft pick Blake Griffin strained his right shoulder in the third game of the NBA Summer League, even though he was in attendance in Las Vegas marveling at the 19.2 points and 10.8 rebounds that led Griffin to earn the league’s most outstanding player honor.

But Dunleavy has a theory.

‘Guys who are high fliers are at risk a lot,’ he said. ‘But I’m sure he’s going to bounce back and everything is going to go great for him.’

It won’t be the first time. Remember, this is the same player who, as a freshman, injured his right knee, had arthroscopic surgery and then returned one week later. Upon his return, Griffin scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Oklahoma’s 75-66 win over Missouri. Remember too, this is the same player who, as a sophomore, returned one week after suffering a concussion. Upon his return, Griffin scored 20 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in the Sooners’ 78-63 victory over Texas Tech.

Griffin may be expected to sit out for three to four weeks, including missing a USA Basketball national team mini-camp in Las Vegas. Luckily for the Clippers, they found some good news from the injury.

‘They never mentioned surgery in any kind of the deal,’ Dunleavy said. ‘I’m disappointed to hear anything that will put him on the shelf because of his great work ethic, and he had improved so much in the short period of time he was with us prior to going to summer league. But I don’t think it’s going to be a major setback for him at all. We were able to get a good look at him in summer league. For us, we were able to project where he can go and what he can do for us and things we need to work on with him. It’s disappointing, but it’s not going to hurt us.’

-- Mark Medina