Clippers forward Blake Griffin on back injury: 'Everything is still intact'

Clippers forward Blake Griffin says the back injury that forced him to withdraw from the FIBA World Cup is fine

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin says the back injury that forced him to withdraw from playing for Team USA this summer is fine.

Griffin was one of 19 players selected to the USA roster that is preparing to play in the FIBA World Cup in Spain later this month.  He withdrew due to a back injury that was discovered during the Clippers' playoff run.

"It's less than a hairline and my back is not fractured. Everything is still intact," Griffin said, via the Los Angeles Times. "I can still come out here and I can do my workouts and I can do everything I used to do. I just shouldn't be playing and practicing everyday this early."

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Griffin, who averaged 24.1 points and 9.5 rebounds in 80 regular season games last year, says the team’s training staff didn’t want him going to camp in September and putting his back in greater danger of being injured again.

 "It's not that my back is broken and I'm walking around with a broken back, or I'm in so much pain," Griffin said.

​- Scooby Axson