Clippers rookie forward Blake Griffin is going to be patient in his return from a broken left kneecap.

He will miss up to six weeks with the stress fracture, which could delay his NBA debut until mid-December.

"It's disappointing, especially when it happened, but I'm not going to feel sorry for myself," Griffin told the Associated Press on Tuesday. "Everybody plays with a certain amount of pain, but it is a fine line, because you do want to take care of your body and make it easier on yourself."

Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said that the forward could play through the injury, but it wouldn't heal.

"He could play on it, but it won't get better," Dunleavy said. "Once that became apparent, there was no question: Let's shut it down. Him playing at a lesser level isn't going to do us much good."