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Blake Griffin’s knee injury gives Anthony Davis another shot on Team USA

spt-120227-anthonydavis

Mike Miller

The injury bug has struck the Team USA frontcourt again, but it now, perhaps, gives former Kentucky star Anthony Davis a shot at Olympic gold.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo!, Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin twisted his knee during a Team USA scrimmage and has been sent home for evaluation, forcing team officials to summon Davis to Las Vegas to rejoin the American National Team after being cut last week.

The extent of Griffin’s injury is unknown, but he has had trouble with the same knee in the past, including during the playoffs this past season.

Coming off a stellar national championship season with Kentucky and being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, Davis will now have the opportunity to practice with Team USA.

Injuries and withdrawals have weakened the American frontcourt during the selection process, including losing Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Lamar Odom, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Andrew Bynum.

Even Davis, for a time, was considered out of the running because of an ankle injury he suffered during a workout with the Hornets, but it turned out to be less severe than first thought.

Wojnarowski reports that Davis was on his way to Las Vegas Wednesday night after being in Los Angeles for a television event.

During his one season at Kentucky, Davis averaged 14.4 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 4.7 blocks per game. He is expected to bring a defensive presence down low for the US Team and could see minutes in a depleted frontcourt.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_