Blake Griffin was plagued by injuries last season, injuries that occurred both on and off the court.

“I don’t ever enjoy time away from the game,” Griffin said. “But it does make you appreciate what you have. Every time something is taken away, you’re forced to take a step back and realize how much that thing means to you. You don’t realize what you’ve got until it’s gone. This was a good restart, for me to remember why I’m here and what I love doing the most.”   

Griffin finished third in MVP voting during the 13-14 season.

Griffin will essentially be in a contract year as he's expected to decline his $21.4 million player option for 17-18 with the Los Angeles Clippers to sign a long-term max contract.

“Contract year or not a contract year, I’m playing the exact same way and focused on the exact same things,” Griffin says. “I haven’t had any conversations about free agency or about anything. If there’s something that anybody hears throughout the course of the season, it’s false, because it didn’t come from me. … This season is just like any other season. My main focus is to accomplish what we’re here to accomplish, and that’s a championship.”

Griffin has been linked to his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder.

“That talk doesn’t impact me,” Griffin says dismissively, when reminded about the hopeful hometown theory. “It’s always going to be there. Fans always want to speculate. My main focus all summer long was getting healthy and getting better. My main focus now is this season. There’s so much basketball to play. I don’t want to say what other players do is none of my business, because it does affect your business whether you’re playing against them. But whether KD is in Oklahoma or Golden State, it’s all the same. We’re going to lace up and play whatever team anybody is with.”

Austin Rivers says he took less money to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Rivers received interest from the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks.

“I took less to come back here,” he said. “... I’m not taking this for granted. I was on a team where it was very bad. There are only four or five teams in the league with a realistic chance to win this year, and I think we’re one of them. I’m not taking this for granted. I know if I go somewhere else, I might not ever be on a team like this again. A lot of people go their whole career and never play on a team like this.”

Doc Rivers thought the Clippers could lose his son to the lure of more minutes and a bigger role.

“He could’ve had that opportunity,” Doc Rivers said. “For him to come back, it shows that winning is far more important and he enjoys the group.”

Austin says it is actually harder to play for his father than it would be for another coach.

“It’s the complete opposite. People who think that are (expletive) idiots. It actually gets me angry,” he said. “You can say it. ‘People are idiots.’ You can write that one down.

“I haven’t played for him my whole life, so it’s not like I had it easy. The whole rest of my career – when I was still successful – the No. 1 player in high school, one of the top five, top 10 players in college at Duke. I wasn’t with my father. I haven’t had it easy.”

DJ Foster of Fox Sports and Locked on Clippers joins for the Los Angeles Clippers season outlook. We discuss the return of Blake Griffin from injury and the steps GM Roc Divers took to fill out coach Doc Rivers' bench with minimal flexibility. We also hit on potential breakout and regression candidates, playing time and lineup issues, key questions for success this year, and give our predictions for the Clippers season.

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The Los Angeles Clippers will waive Dorell Wright and Xavier Munford.

The Clippers didn't have a roster spot available unless they eliminated a guaranteed contract.

Wright played in China last season until joining the Heat at the end of the season.

The Los Angeles Clippers have announced Brice Johnson suffered an acute herniated disc in his lower back in the fourth quarter of the Clippers preseason win over the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 6.

Johnson is out indefinitely and will continue to undergo additional evaluation by the Clippers medical staff.

Johnson was the 25th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft out of North Carolina. 

Johnson averaged 15.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in five games in Summer League.

Steve Ballmer has confirmed the Los Angeles Clippers could leave Staples Center once their lease ends in 2024.

“When you have seven or eight years left on your lease ... you’d better have an option than just going back to your current landlord hat in hand, saying, ‘Please, please sir, please give me the chance to play in your building again,” Ballmer said. “So, yeah, we’re going to have real options. We’re sort of putting those options together today.

“Staples (Center) is a great building, but if you look around the NBA, there are other great buildings that were optimized for basketball.”

The Clippers have interest in building a facility on the Westside of Los Angeles or in Inglewood near the Los Angeles Rams' new facility.

“If you want to build a new building, you can’t come up with that idea six months before the start of the season and sign a contract,” Ballmer said Monday. “There’s a long period that would be required to put a site together, get it permitted et cetera. So, we’re out now evaluating options.”

Ballmer has previously said the Clippers wouldn't leave the Los Angeles market in his lifetime.