CLIPPERS GRIFFIN TO HAVE SEASON ENDING SURGERY

Blake Griffin's first season with the Los Angeles Clippers is over before it even began. Griffin will have surgery on his broken left kneecap, keeping the No. 1 draft pick out for at least four more months the Clippers announced in a statement today. Griffin hasn't played a regular-season game yet for the Clippers after injuring his kneecap in their final preseason game Oct. 23, wincing in pain as he landed after a dunk. After resting the stress fracture for several weeks, the former Oklahoma star recently increased his workload in rehabilitation by running on a treadmill but the power forward recently developed pain in his knee while jumping in a pool, and an examination Tuesday revealed his recovery wasn't progressing properly.

"It's a little disappointing, because he brings so much to the table," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said on a conference call. "As a group, we're coming together better all the time, and adding that talent to our lineup was something we were looking forward to." "I think the reaction is going to be one of disappointment, but he hasn't been here all year," Dunleavy said. "We've just got to move forward and do what we were planning on doing anyway, making the playoffs."

The NBA said Griffin will retain his rookie of the year eligibility for the 2010-11 season because he did not appear in any regular-season games. Greg Oden of Portland had a similar situation when he was eligible for rookie of the year voting in 2008-09 after injuries forced the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft to sit out the entire '07-08 season. Being the top pick hasn't been such an honor in recent NBA drafts. Griffin is the second No. 1 selection in the past three years to miss his entire first season with an injury.

- Jason