Report: Blake Griffin Broke His Hand After Striking A Member Of The Equipment Staff Multiple Times

Clippers forward Blake Griffin has missed the last 15 games with a partially torn quadriceps, but he was expected to make his return to the floor as early as tonight in Indiana. That all went out the window last night, though, when ESPN’s Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne reported that Griffin flew back to L.A. after apparently breaking his right hand during a mysterious team-related incident.

“Undisclosed team-related incident” is a mystifying bit of phraseology that raises all kinds of question about how exactly Griffin broke his hand. It just sits there winking and leering at you, inviting you to guess what the incident is and why it’s undisclosed. Did he just bang it really hard against the rim? Did Austin Rivers drop a barbell on him in the weight room? Did he break it punching Lance Stephenson in the face? Did Paul Pierce decide to teach him what happens to a man who doesn’t pay honest cribbage debts? Whatever happened, we can’t wait to hear more. (Speaking of, if you know what’s going on here, drop us a line at [email protected].)

Update (11:08 a.m.): Our first reported detail has trickled in, thanks to Dan Woike of the OC Register.

Update (11:11 a.m.): And here comes ESPN!

Update (11:27 a.m.): More details from ESPN:

According to the sources, Griffin and the equipment staffer got into an argument in a restaurant during the team’s trip to Toronto. Griffin hit the man, who then left the restaurant and went outside. Griffin followed him outside and hit him again.

Griffin suffered a suspected fracture in his right hand in the incident, sources told ESPN’s Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne early Tuesday morning.

The equipment staffer’s face was injured and he was treated at a local hospital, sources told Eaves. Both Griffin and the equipment staffer were sent home after the incident.

Update (10:58 p.m.): Griffin has apologized for his actions:

Photo via Getty

[ ESPN]