Griffin Cleared To Play For Clippers

By Justin Worsley

While Los Angeles may have not won the NBA Lottery for the second straight season, the have found out good news.

Blake Griffin, last year's first-overall pick, has been cleared for basketball activities, ESPN Los Angeles has reported. Girffin missed his entire rookie season due to a stress fracture in his left kneecap. The injury was reported a day before the 2009-10 season began.

Griffin was hoping to see the court by mid-season, however, doctors reported his knee wasn't healing properly and it was necessary for him to sit out the remainder of the season.

Griffin has already began to workout in Los Angeles, preparing for a season that Griffin says he feels is his "real rookie season."

"He's working out in May like we were ready to tip off in October. The only guy I feel bad for is the first one of his teammates that shows up and wants to play one-on-one with him," Clippers general manager Neil Olshey told ESPN.

The Clippers, who will select eighth in the NBA Draft in June, went 29-53 last season, their 15th losing season in 17 years. Griffin, who averaged 22.7 points and 14.4 rebounds per game in his last season at Oklahoma, is can make immediate impact on the team as they look to dethrone cross-town rival Lakers in the upcoming years.