That video (hat tip: Tom Ziller of SB Nation), according to the title, is Blake Griffin visiting a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea. As you can see, he’s backflipping into the water, which seems like a fun way to spend a vacation.
However, consider this timeline:
- April 19-May 15: Clippers’ playoff run
- June 28: Video of Griffin’s backflip posted to YouTube
- July 14: Team USA announces player pool, including Griffin, for World Cup team
- July 24: Team USA announces Griffin has withdrawn with official release containing no mention of injury. Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo says he learned of Griffin’s decision that day and was caught off-guard
- July 28: A report claims Griffin withdrew due to a back fracture he suffered in playoffs, an injury the Clippers reportedly didn’t know about
Maybe the backflip occurred a year before and was only recently posted to YouTube. Maybe this is one of those back fractures that doesn’t preclude backflips but does interfere with basketball. Maybe Griffin actually injured his back after the playoffs and during or after the backflip. Maybe Griffin didn’t injure his back at all. Maybe…
I won’t pretend to know what happened here, but something doesn’t add up.