Report: Blake Griffin punched Clippers equipment manager after routine teasing escalated

Blake Griffin reportedly broke his hand punching Clippers equipment manager Matias Testi.

Details of the incident are leaking, and it apparently happened during a dinner with DeAndre Jordan and Clippers assistant athletic trainer and travel manager Joe Resendez.

Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times:

What was supposed to be a dinner among friends in Toronto’s entertainment district on Saturday took a horrific turn when Griffin repeatedly punched Testi, leaving his longtime buddy with a severely swollen face and Griffin with a broken right hand.

Griffin and Testi had engaged in some of their routine back-and-forth teasing when things became heated, with the confrontation starting inside the restaurant and continuing outside and involving multiple blows from Griffin, said a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Officers from the Toronto Police Service arrived at the restaurant but were satisfied with the explanation they received from Testi and Griffin after the friends explained what had happened and told the officers there was no need to escalate the situation, said the person with knowledge of the situation.

That jibes with everything Griffin and the Clippers have said.

This is a bad situation. That’s unavoidable now. But the easiest way to make it worse it to get caught lying about it.

As long as Griffin and the team continue to avoid that, they should be able to move on – especially with no criminal charges pending (though civil claims could put a wrench into the idea of moving on).