David Stern has struck yet again, further emasculating Hornets GM Dell Demps as he overvalues the worth of Chris Paul. This time, he has squashed a trade that would have sent Paul to the Clippers for Eric Gordon, Eric Bledsoe, Chris Kaman, Al-Faroq Aminu, and Minnesota’s 2012 first round pick. And you know what? The Clippers should be glad that he did.
The Clippers right now have one of the best cores of talent in the NBA. Think about that for a moment – the CLIPPERS, a perennial joke of a franchise that could have the basketball version of Major Leagues made about them, might be the best basketball team in Los Angeles. This is without Chris Paul; in fact, getting Paul would actually hurt the Clippers’ nucleus. Eric Gordon is one of the best young shooting guards in the game, and can flat out score. Kaman is a solid center that can do all the little things needed to win. Eric Bledsoe is a good young point guard, and will now get to learn from the recently acquired Chauncey Billips. Blake Griffin is an absolute beast; and paired with DeAndre Jordan, may give the Clippers one of the best front courts in the NBA. Add Ryan Gomes, the recently signed Caron Butler, and role players like Randy Foye and Mo Williams, and the Clippers have quietly become contenders.
Notice what name is missing from the list? Chris Paul. The Clippers don’t need him, and would be better off not gutting their team to acquire him. In fact, given the demands by Das NBA Fuhrer, Paul is destined to spend the season languishing on a terrible Hornets team, then will end up bolting in free agency. The Clippers could always make a move to sign him then, and grow even stronger.
The LA Clippers could be a contender for years to come if they stay patient and do not overreach for the flashy name. Who would have ever thought that the best team in Los Angeles for years to come may not be the Lakers?
Showing posts with label Los Angeles Clippers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Los Angeles Clippers. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Donald Sterling Is A Joke
Donald Sterling is a man with a very checkered past. In 2005, he was ordered to pay $5 million in a lawsuit that accused him of trying to drive out black and Latino tenants from apartments that he owned in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. He was sued in 2006 by former Clippers executive Elgin Baylor for employment discrimination based on age and race, a lawsuit that alledges that Sterling told him to build a team of "poor black boys from the South and a white head coach." In 2009, the United States Department of Justice sued him for housing discrimination in using race as a factor in filling some of his apartment buildings. He has been sued multiple times for sexual harassment. He purchased a plot of land in the eastern end of downtown Los Angeles in 2006 with the promise to build a homeless shelter, which he has yet to begin to develop, leading many to believe he purchased this land to realize a profit.
As owner of the Clippers, he has been equally despicable. There is the lawsuit with Elgin Baylor, who Sterling admitted that he had no idea of Baylor's basketball accomplishments at any point in time. The man owns an NBA franchise, and did not know Elgin Baylor's place in basketball history? He refused to pay for assistant coach Kim Hughes' surgery for prostate cancer, leaving four Clippers players (Corey Maggette, Elton Brand, Marko Jaric, and Chris Kaman) to pick up the $70,000 tab that Hughes would have owed. Even though this surgery was required to save Hughes' life, Sterling refused to pay for it, feeling that it would set a 'dangerous example' and that others would feel that he would pay for their medical treatments. What a disgrace.
Sterling has steadfastly refused to spend money on his coaches or his scouting department, which is actually a position that the NBA wanna-be mafia boss David Stern approves of. Not coincidentally, since Sterling purchased the Clippers in 1981, they have had a total of two winning seasons. He refuses to surround himself with knowledgeable basketball minds, although some of that may be due to the fact that they will not work for him, given his history.
Don David has no problems going after Mark Cuban and other people in his private fiefdom for doing such things as criticizing the referees, wearing their headbands inside out, or other completely innocent things. Yet, he refuses to admonish Sterling for anything, including the multiple discrimination scandals. Why is this? Why does he refuse to force this bigoted, penny pinching, morally bankrupt piece of human garbage to sell his team? One would think that if any other owner was involved, or allegedly involved, in even one iota of the controversy that Sterling has been that he would be at that owner's doorstep with members of a 'persuation squad' to make them an 'offer they cannot refuse'. Why the double standard?
Clippers fans, all three of them now, deserve better than this. When Sterling no longer owns the Clippers, the NBA will be a better place.
As owner of the Clippers, he has been equally despicable. There is the lawsuit with Elgin Baylor, who Sterling admitted that he had no idea of Baylor's basketball accomplishments at any point in time. The man owns an NBA franchise, and did not know Elgin Baylor's place in basketball history? He refused to pay for assistant coach Kim Hughes' surgery for prostate cancer, leaving four Clippers players (Corey Maggette, Elton Brand, Marko Jaric, and Chris Kaman) to pick up the $70,000 tab that Hughes would have owed. Even though this surgery was required to save Hughes' life, Sterling refused to pay for it, feeling that it would set a 'dangerous example' and that others would feel that he would pay for their medical treatments. What a disgrace.
Sterling has steadfastly refused to spend money on his coaches or his scouting department, which is actually a position that the NBA wanna-be mafia boss David Stern approves of. Not coincidentally, since Sterling purchased the Clippers in 1981, they have had a total of two winning seasons. He refuses to surround himself with knowledgeable basketball minds, although some of that may be due to the fact that they will not work for him, given his history.
Don David has no problems going after Mark Cuban and other people in his private fiefdom for doing such things as criticizing the referees, wearing their headbands inside out, or other completely innocent things. Yet, he refuses to admonish Sterling for anything, including the multiple discrimination scandals. Why is this? Why does he refuse to force this bigoted, penny pinching, morally bankrupt piece of human garbage to sell his team? One would think that if any other owner was involved, or allegedly involved, in even one iota of the controversy that Sterling has been that he would be at that owner's doorstep with members of a 'persuation squad' to make them an 'offer they cannot refuse'. Why the double standard?
Clippers fans, all three of them now, deserve better than this. When Sterling no longer owns the Clippers, the NBA will be a better place.
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