Blake Griffin entered the league through the front door. As the first overall pick in the 2009 draft following a dominant stint at Oklahoma, he arrived as one of the most heralded all-around prospects in the country.
The Los Angeles Clippers saw him as the savior who would finally drag the franchise out of mediocrity. For a while, BG did exactly that, justifying the hype with a Rookie of the Year trophy and five consecutive All-Star selections.
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However, in 2016, just as Griffin should have been entering his peak years, the 6-foot-9 forward committed the biggest blunder of his career. During a team dinner in Toronto, Griffin struck Matias Testi, the Clippers’ assistant equipment manager.
Fortunately, no criminal charges were filed, and the victim avoided long-term injury, but Blake paid a heavy price. He suffered a spiral fracture in his shooting hand, an injury that sidelined him for six weeks, something he immediately regretted.
“I just want to say that I have had a lot of time to reflect, and that I am very truly, truly sorry for what happened,” Griffin said at the time. “It was a situation between two friends that kind of got out of hand and I exercised poor judgment. I have spoken to Matias about it. I have spoken to my teammates about it, coaches. The last people to apologize to are the fans.”
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“It is something that I think about every day and wish I could take it back,” he added. “It is one of those things that you cannot take back, so now I am focused on moving forward and doing the best I can from here on out.”
$860,000 in lost pay
By then, the damage was done. Blake required two surgical procedures on his hand. The Clippers, in coordination with the NBA, handed down a four-game suspension, which, combined with his time missed due to injury, resulted in $860,000 in lost pay — BG appeared in just 35 games that season.
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A month later, Griffin and Testi shook hands publicly before a game, a gesture that drew applause from the Staples Center crowd. Blake later explained that the two had reconciled, framing the incident as a “family dispute”.
“I have talked to Matias tons of times since the incident,” Griffin continued. “He actually said it best: ‘Stuff happens. We are like brothers and we just have to move on.'”
The locker room moved past the drama, and remarkably, the Clippers managed to finish the season with a stellar 53-29 record, securing the fourth seed in a powerhouse Western Conference.
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However, the “Lob City” curse struck again. Griffin suffered another injury during the playoffs, and a season that began with championship aspirations evaporated. Many fans and analysts pointed to BG’s January outburst as the catalyst for the derailed campaign, feeling the star had left his team in the lurch.
The reckless moment in Toronto didn’t just cost Griffin nearly a million dollars
As for Testi, despite the public reconciliation, the Clippers parted ways with him in July 2016. The specific details of his departure remained undisclosed.
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Griffin remained in L.A. for another season and a half before being abruptly traded to the Detroit Pistons, officially ending a spectacular but ultimately unfulfilled era for the Clippers, and from that point on, a string of injuries saw Blake’s career enter a gradual decline.
Looking back, that reckless moment in Toronto didn’t just cost Griffin nearly a million dollars — it seemingly triggered a domino effect of bad karma and physical setbacks that changed the trajectory of BG’s career for good.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on May 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.