<
>

Blake Griffin ruled out of USA Basketball training camps, exhibition tour

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin will not participate in training camps or go on an exhibition tour with USA Basketball this summer, the NBA team said Friday.

Griffin has started rehabilitation after undergoing a bone-marrow procedure on his left quad tendon on April 27.

The Clippers did not say if Griffin has been officially ruled out of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro but did say he would be ready for the start of the 2016-17 NBA season.

The U.S. team is expected to be announced at the end of June, and Griffin will likely be left off the 12-man roster because of his status for training camp and related exhibition games.

Griffin would become the third member of the 31-player Team USA pool who won't play because of an injury, joining Anthony Davis (shoulder surgery) and John Wall (knee surgery). Chris Paul withdrew to rest before breaking his hand last month.

Griffin, a five-time All-Star, missed 41 games during the regular season because of a left quadriceps injury and played in only five games between his return and the start of the postseason. He sat out the final two playoff games after re-aggravating the injury in Game 4 of the Clippers' first-round playoff, but is expected to be healthy again before the start of training camp.

He averaged 21.4 points and 8.4 rebounds in 35 regular-season games this season.

Information from ESPN's Marc Stein was used in this report.