Hello, We have changed to a new system & you will need to update your RSS feed to the following URL:

http://clipperblog.com/feed

or

http://clipperblog.com/feed/wp-rss2.php

Thanks.

Mike the usually silent half of clipperblog here. you may notice some odd things happening to the site in the next 24 hours or so. we have been working on a whole new look/software for CB and are attempting to breathe life into it right before we start the new season. so please be patient with us & we'll get it moving in a new exciting direction a.s.a.p.

Thanks. -m

• In the LAT, Lisa Dillman explains how the presence of Lela Nicholson might tip us off to the likelihood of Baron Davis suiting up tomorrow night. 
  
  
• In the Press-Telegram, Ramona Shelburne takes a stab at the Clippers' Five Burning Questions heading into the season.
  
  
• Clips Nation's season preview is up. What are the team's biggest strengths?  Steve rightly stipulates that we simply "don't know" since "they've never actually played together in a game."   Is there a team in the league with more elasticity in its expectations?  Unlikely. 
  
  
• Wages of Win has some interesting rookie projections.  Using rookie data from the last couple of NBA seasons, Dave Berri discovered that you can tell a lot about a rookie from his preseason performance.  He also factors in college stats.  Guess who the top-ranking Clipper rookie is?  Hint: It's not Eric Gordon.
  
  
• The best mellow pregame meal in downtown.  BYO.  

One of the great features of a blog is the ability for people with commonalities -- a political bent, a favorite team, a shared interest -- to communicate with one another.  Andrew Sullivan, in this month's issue of The Atlantic, describes the blogger as "the host of a dinner party" whose function is "to provoke discussion or take a position, even passionately, but he also must create an atmosphere in which others want to participate." [emphasis mine]. 

Over the past year or so, the atmosphere in the comments section at Clipperblog has been less than inviting.   I've tolerated it because I fundamentally believe that comment sections of blogs should be policed sparingly.  But I also know firsthand that the rancor has driven smart, pleasant posters from the fray.  This means that the discussion has suffered, and that Clipperblog is a less interesting place to spend time.  And that concerns me. 

Since we're only 48 hours away from the start of the new season, I feel the need to make a request -- not a demand, but a request.  It's a pretty simple one: 

Keep it civil.

By all means bag on Chris Kaman when he deserves it.  And feel free to debate other posters on the value of Corey Maggette or Marcus Camby.  But personal attacks on other posters and general baiting don't belong here.

Thanks for understanding. 

Carry on...

...for Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy, it's down to two options and all about one $65-million point guard.

"We've pretty much got Plan A and Plan B, right?" Dunleavy said. "Baron plays or doesn't play."

That remains the burning question hanging over the Clippers, and Baron Davis' status wasn't made much clearer after Sunday's practice. Davis, who continues to wear a splint on his sprained left ring finger, and Tim Thomas (strained groin) participated in some aspects of training but were kept out of anything involving contact.

There are other concerns. Marcus Camby (bruised right heel) is behind Davis and Thomas in terms of progress and didn't play a minute in the preseason. His appearance in any of the games this week would be a genuine surprise.

This was the grand fear, wasn't it?  That the Clippers' roster -- ripe with talent -- would fall victim to a combination of nagging injuries, grievances, and uncertainty.  For a team that, for all practical purposes, is still wearing name tags around the training facility, it might be helpful to complete a single full-contact practice in unison before the season starts.

Just saying. 

• Per Lisa Dillman at the LAT, Marcus Camby is looking less probable as an opening night starter against the Lakers:
  
  It may be more of a surprise if Marcus Camby is actually available for the season opener Wednesday. Instead of going up against his former teammates from Denver, he received a pain-killing shot for his bruised right heel. Camby said in the hallway before the game that he thought he would get the shot at halftime. "He's the one I'm thinking is potentially not available," Dunleavy said of the three injured Clippers...The flu and the injury limited Camby to about three days of practice. Dunleavy was asked what he needed to see from Camby before he could take the next step, so to speak. "See him get down the floor without limping," he said. "It'd be a start."
  
  If Marcus Camby is a no-show Wednesday, don't expect things to improve for Chris Kaman, who's had -- to put it kindly -- a choppy preseason.  Opponents need to have a reason not to send help down to the block to defend Chris.  Marcus Camby at the elbow is one reason.  Tim Thomas along the perimeter is another.  But neither Brian Skinner nor Paul Davis provide that kind of insurance for Chris in the post. 
  
  
• Jason Hart gives you a lot defensively, but I'm not certain that Mike Taylor doesn't give the Clips a better chance to win with the second unit.  Taylor is hitting 57% of his shots from the floor -- largely a product of his getting to the hole with ease.  His range has been a pleasant surprise, and last night he went 2-2 in 3PAs.  The one consideration you have to factor with Hart is whether those premium defensive skills against opposing backup PGs offset the fact that he can't throw it into the ocean.  I'm not certain they do. 
  
  Taylor, on the other hand, needs to learn to protect the ball -- something Hart does with care.
  
  
• Both DeAndre Jordan and his husky puppy Maximus have a tendency to do things on the floor they shouldn't.  Jordan reports in his decidedly readable blog that Maximus "go use the bathroom outside, then he'll come back inside and use my floor, too! He's crazy."   That last rejoinder seems a fairly apt description of Jordan, as well, who racked up his second techincal of the preseason after kvetching to the officials and barking at Nene after Jordan threw down a dunk. 
  
  To his credit, Jordan kept the Clips in the rebounding battle.  He collected 10 in 25 minutes.
  
  A good morsel from Jordan's most recent entry: "A fan named Marc asked me why Eric Gordon always looks so upset. He's not upset. He's just real quiet. That's how he looks most of the time. Sometimes you crack a joke and you might... you might get him to do a half smile. No teeth though. That's it."
  
  

Just how serious were the Clippers' contingency plans if the diagnosis on Baron Davis' sprained left ring finger came back negatively? Apparently, serious enough to have free agent guard Lindsey Hunter in for a workout this week.

``We worked him out and he looked great,'' Clippers coach and general manager Mike Dunleavy said. ``He's in great shape, and a good veteran guy.''

Now that the Clippers have official word that Davis should only be out another week and doesn't need surgery, it's unlikely they'd sign Hunter, who won NBA championships with the Lakers in 2001-02 and Detroit in 2003-04.

You get the impression that Dunleavy is determined to have no fewer than 3+ options at PG this season, and would happily work out Mo Cheeks if he weren't already coaching the Philadelphia 76ers.

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Clippers have exercised the third-year contract option on forward Al Thornton, the team announced Tuesday.

According to the NBA's rookie pay scale, Thornton will make approximately $1.9 million during the 2009-10 season.

The 14th overall draft pick in 2007 out of Florida State, Thornton, 24, is entering his second season. He will be a restricted free agent after the 2009-10 campaign.

The 6-8 Thornton averaged 12.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists during a solid rookie campaign, which landed him a spot on the All-Rookie First Team.

• The end of the road for Darius Miles?  The Celtics cut the Clippers' third overall 2000 draft pick. Steve Bulpett offered this pithy conclusion in the Boston Herald: "In the final analysis, Miles, coming off knee surgery that forced him to miss the past two seasons, was held to a higher standard that he failed to meet. He had to be better than good enough to make the team, and the rust and unease of movement were evident in his preseason appearances. He averaged 1.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 10.4 minutes a game."
  
  
• The Clips will go with Hart-Mobley-Thornton-P. Davis-Kaman tonight at Staples vs. PHX.  Some things to observe: How Davis and Kaman handle the interior against Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal. The Thornton-Grant Hill matchup will also be interesting to watch.  Hill is the kind of heady defender who gives aggressive wings just enough rope to hang themselves.  Let's see if Thornton can keep his turnovers to <5, and work some good shots for himself inside of 15. 
  
  
• Give the Clips' brain trust some credit.  Though the team dodged a bullet with the better-than-expected news on Baron Davis' injury, having Jason Hart and Mike Taylor as the understudies at PG feels a whole lot better than in the Brunsonian era.  While Brevin Knight has his attributes, it's fair to say that his age and size make him a less desirable option than Hart.  This Clips will probably lose the majority of games Baron Davis sits out this season, but having a 40% of succeeding on a given night is a lot more promising than fielding a sure loser.
  
  
• Andre Aldridge and Eric Snow preview the Clips at NBATV. 
  
  
• Clips Nation is very bullish in the Clippers' perimeter shooting: "For the first time in my recollection, the Clippers can call time out down three with 10 seconds remaining and put not two, not three, not four, but FIVE shooters on the floor."  Steve makes the point that the Clippers' successes of years past were predicated on blue-collar performances.  This year's squad will be a finesse team.  Ron Brownstein lives.
  
   

Press Release from the Clippers: 

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Baron Davis underwent an examination today by Dr. Roy Meals, a hand specialist with the UCLA Medical Group.  The examination revealed that Davis had sustained a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left ring finger.  The injury does not require surgery and is expected to heal on its own.  Davis will wear a splint and is expected to resume all basketball activities in one week.

Davis was originally diagnosed with a sprained left ring finger after falling on his hand during practice at the Los Angeles Clippers Training Center on Friday, October 17th.  X-rays taken after the injury occurred were negative and a subsequent MRI revealed results that were inconclusive, leading to today's follow up examination.

Could be a whole lot worse, given the range of possibilities spelled out this morning.

From J.A. Adande at ESPN.com:

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Baron Davis will visit a specialist Monday to examine his injured left ring finger. One possible recommendation could be surgery that would sideline Davis for four to six weeks, an NBA source said.

Davis injured the finger in practice Friday. The initial diagnosis was a sprained ligament; X-rays revealed there was not a broken bone. However, there is a possibility that there could be a ruptured tendon in the finger, which would require surgical repair. If surgery is not necessary, it still could take up to three weeks for Davis to recuperate and return to action.

"It doesn't feel good," Davis said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "It's not comfortable, not a comfortable feeling. ... The good thing is that it is the preseason, so you can deal with all your bumps and bruises early."

The Clippers open the regular season on Oct. 29 against the Lakers. A three-week absence would keep Davis out of action for the first six games.

Lisa Dillman reported on the story in Saturday's LAT.  Meanwhile, in the frontcourt...

The wait to see the Clippers' Marcus Camby -- in a real-time game, that is -- will apparently be longer than previously expected.

Camby, plagued by a bruised right heel, on Sunday effectively ruled himself out for the remainder of the exhibition season. He was speaking at Staples Center after the Clippers defeated FC Barcelona, 114-109, their fourth victory in five exhibition games.

"They're shutting me down, resting me," Camby said. "Double treatments a day. . . . Hopefully, I can be all right opening night. That's my goal."

Clearly, Davis is the more valuable player.  But, in some sense, Camby's absence presents more of a challenge for the Clippers -- in that the depth chart at PG is pretty cut-and-dry.  Hart will start in Baron's place, and Taylor will log more minutes as sole backup. 

But the hole Camby leaves up front if he were to be out for an extended period of time is far more daunting.  Tim Thomas would be the obvious insert for Camby in the Clippers' starting lineup...except that he's suffering from a groin strain.  That would leave the Clippers with a couple of possible options.  [1] They could slide Al Thornton back to the 4, where he played out of position for much of last season.  Dunleavy could then put Ricky Davis at the 3. This would actually be the most potent offensive option for the Clippers up front, but they'd be sacrificing a lot of size and -- let's face it -- wherewithal defensively.  Davis isn't a bad ball defender in isolation, but he's an unrepentant space cadet on team defense. [2] If this bothered Dunleavy, he could go with Cuttino Mobley and Eric Gordon at the wings.  That's not a horrible short-term option against smaller teams because Mobley does solid work defensively against opposing SFs.  But Cat is starting to appear creaky, and playing him at the 3 should be regarded merely as a stopgap measure. [3] Dunleavy could play either Paul Davis or Brian Skinner up front.  This wouldn't be a terrible option -- provided Baron Davis were healthy.  But given what the Clips are already giving up offensively with Baron out, it's an impossibility.  Fielding a Hart-Mobley-R.Davis-P.Davis-Kaman lineup would be disastrous.  So the combined absence of Baron Davis-Marcus Camby will force Dunleavy to go with either option [1] or [2], which means the Clippers will forfeit one of their notable strengths -- size up front.  The result could be very ugly on both ends.

A semi-revealing blog post from rookie center DeAndre Jordan over at the Clippers' site.  Among the revelations:

• Cuttino Mobley is a carbophobe.
  
  
• The "rookie wall" is real.
  
  
• Al Thornton is "a great defender" [!]
  
  
• The Clippers kick off their workouts with yoga.
  
  
• 11-week-old huskies tend to be indiscriminate about where they do their business.
  
  
  

Clips 116, Sacramento 112

Since the moment Eric Gordon was drafted #7 overall by the Clippers, there's been a persistent skepticism about him in the Naçion.  Clipper fans have been slow to embrace the glowing, c. 2007 scouting reports that touted Gordon's sweet stroke, his brute strength, his innate ability to sniff the basket from anywhere on the floor.  To Clipper fans, EJ had all the markings of a classic Clipper draft day bust -- injury-prone, a stubborn shooter with tunnel vision, a combo guard who really isn't, and that familiar star solipsism displayed both on and off the court.   

As drama swirled around the Clippers this summer, Gordon became an afterthought.  Few Clipper fans regarded him as a potential plus-factor coming into the season.  Reports of an ankle injury and subsequent comments that he didn't feel that he was "really missing anything" soured Clipper fans even more on EJ.  He saw his first action in a Clippers jersey on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City, putting up a forgettable 2-8 line from the field. 

But last night, Gordon had arguably his finest night since he graduated North Central High in Indianapolis.  In simplest terms, EJ took over the game in the fourth quarter.  He scored 33 points -- 21 in the 4th quarter -- on 26 true shot attempts [63.4 TS%].  That paralyzing crossover and sweet follow-through were on full display, as was the handle that EJ-partisans insisted could translate into legitimate PG duties.  Neither Bobby Brown or Bobby Jackson had a chance against EJ in the 4th, as the Clippers rolled. 

The challenge going forward into the regular season for Gordon will be leveraging his ability to nail shots from beyond into something better closer in -- be it a little stop-and-pop at 15, a driving layup to the hole, or finding a big on the block or Thornton on the wing.  At IU, Gordon displayed good instincts of the court.  If he can parlay impulse into presence for the Clippers, he'll endear himself to the skeptics.

• Mike Taylor forced the action in the final minutes of a harrowing, albeit ugly, preseason win for the Clips in Oklahoma City last night. Al Thornton put up nice-looking numbers from the field (8-13) and the line (6-8) -- but turned the ball over five times.  Baron Davis, Marcus Camby, and Tim Thomas all sat out the game.  Cat Mobley somehow managed to go 0-7 from inside of 15 feet.  Other curiosities:  Ricky Davis swiped nine rebounds in 27 minutes.  Paul Davis continues to log quality minutes off the pine -- making life much harder for DeAndre Jordan in the Clips' crowded frontcourt.
  
  
• Jake, an NBA fan from San Antonio, spins a fictional version of the NBA season at NBA on the Brain. Who's the picaresque hero of Prelude 12?  Click here.  
  
  
• A week late on this, but Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post sounds a popular refrain we've heard a lot from Nuggets fans over the years:
  
  "Denver can be a nastier, more rugged defensive team without Camby, who collected blocks as if they were art treasures but had little interest in doing any real down-and-dirty work in the paint, whether it required leaning on Shaquille O'Neal or chasing Pau Gasol...With Camby, this team was far too passive-aggressive on defense, with a strategy that seemed based on the big center swooping in at the last second to save the Nuggets from disaster. Now, defenders have no choice but to man up and get in the face of scorers. 'We're going to be more aggressive and disruptive,' Karl said Monday."
  
  
• A digital approximation of Eric Gordon off the high S/R. 
  
  
• Chris Kaman amuses Baron Davis. And Baron dubs himself "The Basketball Obama." 
  
  
  

At a certain point, the Brand story will run its natural course here in Los Angeles.  I hope that time is soon.  But it's probably worth noting Jonathan Abrams' piece in this morning's New York Times on Brand:

[Brand] was on the verge [of re-signing with the Clippers], focusing on the fine print with Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy, who also had the role of general manager, a title recently made official by the team’s parting with its longtime vice president for basketball operations, Elgin Baylor.

Dunleavy negotiated directly with Brand. They agreed on money and years, but became stuck at a point for an early termination option, a clause that would allow him to become a free agent earlier.

“My last correspondence with him was July 1 at 7:57 p.m.,” Dunleavy recently said in a telephone interview. “He texted, ‘Hey Coach, I have some problem with some language and the E.T.O.’

“By the next morning, I texted him back and said I got it taken care of and to call me. I haven’t heard from him since.”

At that point, Brand recalled, his agent, David Falk, told him: “Turn your phone off. You’re not talking to them anymore. I’m your agent. Let me do my job.”

Brand cut off communication with everybody from the Clippers. Falk took charge of Brand’s negotiations and, after entertaining an offer from the Warriors, Brand signed a five-year, $82 million deal with the 76ers.

The signing ignited a war of words between Dunleavy and Falk, through radio waves and newspapers. It put a mark on Brand’s good-guy reputation in the N.B.A.

“It wasn’t an issue of him leaving,” Dunleavy said. “It was an issue how Elton left. To me, it was that he didn’t even call or explain it after the time we had together. I basically did all I could for the guy. He could have called me up and said this is better for my family and I would have said O.K. What could I do with that?

“After being with somebody for five years and being as close as I thought I was with someone and a guy gives his word, that’s all it would have taken as far as I’m concerned. It’s just one of those types of things.”

Brand acknowledged that he had not spoken with Dunleavy since.

“After that, it was kind of he-said, she-said; I didn’t know what was true,” Brand said. “But Coach Dunleavy was the best pro coach I played for. I got the furthest in my career and I was an All-Star under him. I hope it’s water under the bridge because I think he’s a good coach and a good person.”

Most fans might be inclined to blame Falk.  But agents are intrinsically amoral, and Falk's actions don't fall outside the boundaries of what's typical in pro sports -- though this was clearly an atypical situation.  I suspect that Elton's recollection of Falk's imperative to cut off all contact with the Clippers is probably accurate.  Whether that absolves Elton of doing the right thing by Dunleavy, the Clippers organization, people who like the Clippers, Baron Davis, etc, depends on how much self-management and loyalty you demand from the pro athletes you support.  Likewise, whether you blame the Clippers' organization depends on how much competence you demand from your team to close deals, irrespective of whether agents act like agents and players act like players -- and whether you consider these factors to be beyond the organization's control.

Cuttino Mobley emerged from the tumult of the Clippers' offseason as second to only Chris Kaman in longevity with the Clippers.  In this morning's Los Angeles Times, veteran columnist Bill Dwyre pens a glowing portrayal of Mobley as an unheralded former second-round pick who, for his workmanlike consistency and mastery of the little things, is deserving -- but rarely a recipient -- of the spotlight:

When [Mobley] came to the Clippers, so did Sam Cassell, and there has never been a spotlight Cassell didn't dominate. And now that he has gone, as well as Corey Maggette and Elton Brand, the Clippers have filled those spots in the bright lights with Davis and Camby.

Which leaves Mobley right where he has usually been -- a very good, not very famous player in a city where fans worship stars more than they assess talent.

None of which bothers Mobley.

Mobley loves to perch on the right block for a turnaround and is quite good at it. Last year he took 104 shots from post-up range on the right side of the floor, an enormous total for a 6-4 guard who was a secondary offensive player.

Only four guards shot more from there (Kobe Bryant, Richard Hamilton, Andre Miller and Chris Paul), and Mobley took 29.3 percent of his total attempts from that spot, which not only was the most in the league but was also the most since 2005. And while many players struggle from that distance, Mobley hit 47.1 percent.

Really interesting data, don't you think?

Not to harp on this point because I concede that there are good counter-arguments, but the Clips -- who consist of three exceptional post-up starters, one spot-up shooter, and one strong iso slasher -- are a very, very strong halfcourt team.  Again, that's not to say they shouldn't maximize their opportunities in transition, but the Clips could potentially be a match-up nightmare in a controlled offense, particularly against smaller teams.  Might make for more boring basketball, but it's a dynamic they'd be crazy not to exploit. 

Absent a damaging piece of evidence (e.g., empirical evidence showing an unusual pattern of older employees being fired by the Clippers; evidence of a workplace where Baylor or other older employees were treated with hostility because of age; an email from ownership stating or alluding to Baylor's age as a source of concern etc.), it would probably be difficult for Baylor to succeed in an age discrimination lawsuit--assuming that Baylor was even fired or constructively discharged, rather than, as the Clippers contend, he voluntarily resigned. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits discrimination against persons over the age of 40 due to their age (California has a similar state law, the Fair Employment and Housing Act), but employers can generally relieve themselves of liability when they can show there were "reasonable factors other than age" to justify the employment decision.

Given the Clippers' on-court struggles under Baylor, and given that NBA general managers are routinely replaced when their teams' struggle, it would seem there were plausible business reasons for management to change direction. On the other hand, Baylor might question why the team's failures in previous seasons, under the same ownership group, did not trigger his dismissal and yet here they would. Still, it would seem the team has the upper-hand in that debate, especially if Baylor's employment contract (if he had one) contained language on expectations for team success.

Another plausible business reason would be if there had been an internal power struggle between Baylor and coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr. which was won by Dunleavy. In that scenario, the organization may have perceived that it was in its best interests to remove Baylor from any role in basketball operations, particularly if Dunleavy thought that Baylor was somehow disrupting his vision for the team.

Bottom line: Baylor would probably face an uphill fight in proving age discrimination, though until we know what was going on with the Clippers, it's hard to make any certain predictions.

Baron Davis -to- Al Thornton

There’s something a little jarring about seeing a reassembled team in box score form for the first time.  Minus Marcus Camby, who sat out last night’s game in Fresno, what you saw [heard?]¹ last night is a pretty close approximation of what the Clips will unveil on the 29th in their regular season opener. It’s still far too early to gauge what kind of product the Clippers will produce night in and night out, but the assembly of players up and down the box score reveals a balanced mix of guys in their prime, capable scorers, skilled grown-ups, and a smattering of young talent.  Again, there’s no telling whether this is a unified NBA roster or merely a jumble of spare parts. But scanning that box score, what stands out is depth, something the Clippers – either due to stinginess or bad planning – have traditionally lacked. 

Clips fans who want to see the team outrun the opposition and push the ball in transition had to be impressed.  Baron Davis paced the Clips early; Jason Hart worked a bit more deliberately – but was effective; then Mike Taylor went to the races.  Taylor has always produced glowing scouting reports.  In Ames, Iowa State fans gushed that the CC-transfer might surpass Jamaal Tinsley in sheer athleticism and raw talent.   But Taylor flunked out of school and found himself on the Idaho Stampede for the 2007-08 season.  Last night was a good encapsulation of Taylor’s game – minus the 3PMs.  Taylor’s instinctive ability to weave his way through the defense en route to the hole was on full display.  So was his tendency to cough up the ball in transition.  Taylor is still extremely young – just 22 – and he demonstrated last night that he offers the Clips a solid option – if tenuous handle – off the bench.

Whatever they get or don’t get from the bench, the Clippers will succeed or fail this season on the shoulders of Baron Davis.  Last night, Davis dispensed, in the words of Lisa Dillman, “a heavy dose of vocal leadership.”  He also dished out seven dimes – three to Tim Thomas, two to Al Thornton, and one each to Ricky Davis and Chris Kaman -- and only two turnovers in a mere 18 minutes.

Paul Davis returned and produced 15 minutes of solid basketball – hitting a couple of shots just the left of the basket and another face-up jumper, inexplicably, from 20 feet.  Nice to see.

********** 

¹You think maybe, just maybe, there’s a measurable television audience for a Clippers-Lakers preseason game in which Baron Davis makes his debut?  I mean, the game was in Fresno…not Fairbanks.  

Elton Brand made his debut in a Sixers game uni last night in Amherst, Mass: 

Last night, Cheeks started the much-anticipated lineup of point guard Andre Miller, shooting guard Andre Iguodala, Young, power forward Elton Brand, and center Sam Dalembert.

Brand struggled early: He had four points at the half on 1-for-3 shooting and finished with 11 points.

"This is his first game actually playing with a different team," Cheeks said. "It's going to take him a minute."

The vaunted five struggled on offense, digging a 16-4 hole midway through the first quarter. Williams was the second Sixer off the bench, after shooting guard Willie Green.

The Sixers open the regular season on the 29th at home against Toronto, which means either a Chris Bosh or Jermaine O'Neal matchup for Elton.

Bill Simmons has a stellar retrospective on Elgin Baylor that encompasses his entire career -- from his days when he was, literally, "moonlighting as an NBA player on weekends," to confronting segregation, to his contributions to the advent of free agency in the league:

My theory is everything that happened after Elgin's playing career ended up obscuring the career itself. The Clippers hired Elgin to run them in 1986, and really, he has been something of a punchline ever since...

If you're younger than 40, when you think of Elgin, you probably remember him wearing one of those Bill Cosby sweaters and wincing because the Clippers' lottery number came too soon. That's the wrong memory. You should think about him creating hang time from scratch in 1958. Think of him putting up a 38-19 in his spare time in 1962. Think of him dropping 71 on the Dipper. Think of his eyes narrowing as they passed along his owner's condescending message during that snowy day in Boston. Think of him retiring with dignity because he didn't want to hang on for a ring. Think of him telling Hundley that he couldn't play that exhibition game in West Virginia, not because he was trying to prove a point, but because it would have made him feel like less of a human being.

Simmons has some juicy bits from the Dunleavy era as well.  Baylor is one of those guys who's able to project ornariness without compromising his class. 

However ineffectual Baylor's tenure as the Clips' principal executive might have been, it's apparent that the organization -- yet again -- failed at the most basic exercise of inter-personal relations. 

The story is beginning to come into focus.  We've learned from Baylor himself that, "[t]here’s a dispute going on."  We also know that Baylor's mug and bio were mysteriously missing from the team's media guide.  There are additional reports that the 74-year-old Baylor was offered some sort of ambassadorial or emeritus role with the team. 

That this departure lacks ceremony and tact is little surprise, given Donald T. Sterling's history.  You don't have to be a sentimentalist, though, to feel that the length of Baylor's tenure, coupled with his legacy as one of the most dynamic basketball players in Los Angeles history, warranted more menschkeit from the organization.  

Baylor Reax from around the web

Mark Heisler:

Elgin's problem was always two-fold: a) You rarely did anything he wanted to do, and b) he wanted the job too badly to ever put it on the line.

...Did you ever notice these things never happen to the Lakers?

The words Laker Family mean something with an organization studded with former players and Jerry Buss giving Magic Johnson and Pat Riley multi-million dollar severance packages after they left and were of no more use to him.

You don't hear people talk about Clipper Family. If someone did, I'd think of a family like that of the Emperor Commodus in "Gladiator."

This didn't have to happen at the same time you opened a sparkling $50-million practice site that could have symbolized a rebirth but as this debacle shows, your organization still needs some work, like from the top down.

Vikings went out like Vikings, pushed into fjords in ships to be set ablaze in a hail of burning arrows.

Clippers still go out like Clippers, feet first.

Marc Stein:

Given the unkind end to his legendary playing career, as well as the years of thankless service he gave the Clips long before their more recent flirtations with respectability, this is no way for Elg to go out, embroiled in a murky he-said, he-said.

Resigned? Retired? Fired? No one is quite sure. One theory suggests Baylor felt too much emphasis had been placed on his age and balked at the stripped-of-power terms he was offered to stay on as a consultant and/or ambassador. Another theory holds that Baylor, before a team-imposed Monday deadline for a final decision, hit the Clips with an aggressive string of demands to stay on.

So much, then, for the fantasy notion that Baylor would be the one prominent figure in Clippers history who wouldn't leave in a messy divorce. Instead, we're looking at the usual unsavory parting of owner Donald Sterling and one of his leading basketball men, requiring the intervention of lawyers to negotiate a resolution.

The Clippers might actually run more smoothly without Baylor, because it reduces their management muddle from three factions -- (1) Sterling and team president Andy Roeser; (2) Dunleavy and trusty aide Neil Olshey; (3) Baylor -- to two.

Sean Deveney:

In October 2003, just a few months after the Clippers named Dunleavy coach, the team brought in personnel director Neil Olshey and let go of longtime personnel man Barry Hecker, a move that was seen by most as the result of a power struggle between Dunleavy and Baylor. With Hecker out and Olshey hired, there was no question that Dunleavy had put his stamp on the organization, and that Baylor was increasingly becoming a figurehead.

Clips Nation:

Baylor is a link to "The Worst Franchise in Pro Sports" days.  He should have been fired each and every year since, say, 1987.  So that's about two decades of reprieves.  And although not much will change in the short term since MDsr was already calling the shots, it's clearly better for him to have the title along with the responsibility.

Seems like it could have been handled better though.  I hope Baylor doesn't end up suing Sterling for his salary like Bill Fitch had to.  That's embarrassing.

I have a piece up at TrueHoop.  The takeaway:

As an executive, Baylor was an enigma -- a fact that's as much a product of circumstance as instinct. From the outset, Baylor had a unique arrangement with Sterling. Virtually every owner in sports demands winning as a mandate from his front office principal. But Baylor wasn't asked to achieve with the Clippers so much as to preside. No matter how bad things got for the Clippers, Baylor had unrivaled job security.

That's because Sterling wasn't looking for a visionary. He wanted an attendant.

From Art Thompson III at the OC Register: 

Although the Clippers have not made an official announcement, Hall of Famer, Laker legend and NBA icon Elgin Baylor no longer is performing his duties as the team’s vice president of basketball operations and general manager.

“There’s a dispute going on,” Baylor said. “My attorney advised me not to discuss it.”

A NBA executive contacted Tuesday afternoon said he had been told that Baylor no longer was performing his job. Reportedly, legal representatives of the Clippers and Baylor are engaging in dialogue.

It is not known if Baylor resigned or was relieved of his duties. However, suspicion arose when the 74-year old Baylor was not at the Clippers’ new practice facility when training camp opened nor was he listed in any way in the team’s preseason media guide.

Thompson alludes to the fact that Mike Dunleavy has assumed the vast majority of GM duties in recent years, which means that Baylor's departure would have little effect on the franchise's overriding philosophy.  Still, this would be a watershed moment in Clippers history.  Baylor came aboard 22 years ago as VP of Basketball Operations, and has been a constant in the franchise's embattled history.  His tenure as Clippers' GM has been an unfortunate departure from his career as one of the greatest players in the game's history.  As the public face of the Clips, he was a fixture in Secaucus each spring and, fairly or not, a punch line.  Few will ever know if Baylor was a helpless victim of a miserly owner, or a true incompetenet incapable of evaluating talent or executing the most basic of deals. 

Stay Tuned.

UPDATE: Per the LAT, Mike Dunleavy will now formalize his role as General Manager -- a job he's held unofficially for a while now by most accounts:

The Elgin Baylor Era is over.

Which means Mike Dunleavy will be the team's general manager, the Clippers coach said Tuesday afternoon.

"Basically, the team came to me just recently and said that Elgin was retiring and they wanted me to assume those duties," Dunleavy said.

Baylor had been the team's vice president of basketball operations since 1986. Neil Olshey, the team's director of player personnel, will be the assistant general manager. Team officials were not available for comment on the details of Baylor's retirement.

As late as 2006-07, his last full season with the Los Angeles Clippers, Livingston was still trying to develop the sort of upper and lower body strength needed to not only become a starting-quality NBA guard (criticisms that have rightfully dogged him since his pre-draft workouts in 2004), but someone who could be counted on to play half an NBA game 65 times over the course of a season.

That was two years ago, and though the Clippers were and are a skinflint organization when it comes to bulking up in the strength and training department, it's going to take more than a change of practice court scenery for Livingston to turn things around.

That doesn't mean that he can't turn it around, or that 82 percent of basketball junkies out there wouldn't give 82 percent of their kidneys to see this kid working at full strength, but it's going to be another season of underwater work and treadmill time. That's just how things are going to flow, so we'd like to ask that we wait a while before presuming that the "finished" label works with Mr. Livingston. Apologies for repeating myself, but partially because it would depress the hell out of your humble narrator, and mainly because it wouldn't be true, even next June.

KD adds that, if and when Shaun is ready to perform on the court, there will be ample opportunity for him.  But...

So as a fourth guard, let's remind ourselves not to rail when he doesn't see but 14 minutes in a month, or can't see the court in a 30-point win or loss. This is still a rebuilding year, those legs (among other body parts) have to work themselves into passable NBA shape, and the guy just turned 23.

It can be said with good assurance that most of the league -- and a unanimous number in these parts -- hope Shaun's day is sooner than later. 

[Eric] Gordon suffered a sprained right ankle on the opening day of camp and the team said today that it was a high sprain and he could be out for as long as two weeks.

"I mean, the good thing is it's not broke or anything," Gordon said. "I'll be back for sure next week. It's only going to be a couple of days. I'm really not worried about it.

"I was in shape before training camp. Whenever I get back, I'll be just fine. . . . I got a rebound and I just came down on somebody's foot. Stuff happens like that all the time."

Although Gordon he thinks he'll be back as early next week, that sounded overly optimistic. Gordon needed crutches to get around Wednesday, although they were gone by today. He is closely watching practice and said he is "not really missing anything."

I don’t think there’s much drama or human insight to be gleaned from Corey Maggette’s comments at Warriors Media Day this week. Maggette told reporters that Baron Davis is in for “a rude awakening” because Davis' new head coach in Los Angeles will demand that the point guard run sets in the halfcourt and watch game tape before practice.

Corey is correct in that Mike Dunleavy and Don Nelson run entirely different operations.  It’s also fair to characterize Nelson’s style as more appealing to the average NBA starter.   And that’s precisely what Corey Maggette is – an average NBA starter.

It’s also easy to understand why Maggette prefers an improvisational style that depends less on preparation than on improvisation; he’s a far better athlete than most guys on the floor at any given moment.  Game tape and halfcourt sets offer opportunities for the less gifted to level the playing field – or the hardwood – with the more preternaturally athletic.  And to that end, it’s easy to see why Maggette perceives these features of pro basketball to be a drag.  They exist to mitigate the advantages that come with raw talent.  They allow more cerebral players to use their strengths more acutely against guys like Corey Maggette.

Whether Davis feels the same way about regimen and structure remains to be seen.  But I'd argue that, for the Clippers' collective skill set and size, a more controlled brand of basketball works in their favor.  That's something Corey Maggette never quite understood and was, in the end, the basis for the friction between him and his coach in Los Angeles.