Blake Griffin has decided to test free agency, telling the Los Angeles Clippers that he’s opting out of the final year of his contract.

A person with direct knowledge of Griffin’s plans confirmed the decision Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity because neither Griffin, a five-time All-Star, nor the Clippers have publicly announced the move.

The move was expected, and gives Griffin the chance to pursue a deal elsewhere or re-sign with the Clippers for more years.

The Clippers have had six consecutive successful regular seasons – winning at least 60 percent of their games each year, something only San Antonio has done in that same span – but never cracked the code of finding success in the playoffs. The Clippers never made it out of the second round in any of those six seasons, and lost in the first round each of the last two years.

Guards Chris Paul and J.J. Redick also are potentially on the move as free agents, and there’s speculation that center DeAndre Jordan could be traded.

Chris Paul was re-elected president of the National Basketball Players Association.

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MARCUS CAMBY, a former NBA player, was named defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit over the drowning of his 9-year-old autistic nephew in a pond on Camby’s Houston-area property last Thanksgiving.

The federal lawsuit, filed Thursday by the boy’s father, Marcus Kendall McGhee, alleges that Camby was aware of the limitations of his nephew, Marcus Carter McGhee, but failed to supervise the child and used no protective measures to keep him away from the pond.

The boy was found dead two days after he was reported missing. He traveled to Texas from his home in the Hartford, Connecticut, area for the holiday.

KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE, a restricted free agent who played with the Detroit Pistons, was suspended for two games without pay by the NBA for pleading guilty to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Caldwell-Pope was sentenced to a year of probation last week in a March traffic stop in suburban Detroit.

Caldwell-Pope was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after police said he was spotted going about 45 mph in a 25 mph zone about 2:50 a.m. March 29 in Auburn Hills, Michigan. He was arrested after a field sobriety test. A further test showed a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent.


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