Since being fired earlier in the year, Mike Dunleavy has not received any of the money owed to him from his guaranteed contract, which reportedly totals upwards to $12 million dollars.

This isn’t exactly new territory for Donald Sterling. The Clippers fired Bill Fitch after the 1997-1998 season and proceeded to pay Fitch only $200,000 of the $4 million dollars owed to him. Fitch of course had to pursue legal action against the Clippers, which led to Sterling giving this deposition (via a story by Peter May in the Boston Globe in January 2003):

Q. Do you have an understanding whether the 1997 contract was guaranteed?

A. No.

Q. Sir, do you have any idea what a guaranteed contract is?

A. No.

Q. None?

A. No . . . I really don’t understand what the – what “guaranteed contracts” mean. I, I’m really not sure exactly what that means with relations to players.

Asked if he understood that coaches get paid if they get fired, subject to certain provisions, Sterling said, simply, “No.”

In Donald Sterling’s world, things like guaranteed contracts simply don’t exist. With that in mind, it must be terribly inconvenient for Sterling to have to pay these coaches who couldn’t live up to his standards. For Sterling, everything is as simple as this: Do a good job, and you get paid. Do a bad job, and you don’t. Of course that’s not how the NBA or most of society operates, but these things matter not to an owner.

And really, it’s hard to see that ever changing. This isn’t just blatant penny pinching here — this is a 77-year old man’s code of beliefs being tested. Sterling believes he shouldn’t have to pay someone who no longer works for him. So he won’t, at least not until someone forces him to.

The Clippers don’t really have a leg to stand on here, but that hardly seems to matter. This is a statement from the top, and it reads loud and clear: Donald Sterling will not pay for something he has already deemed inadequate. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking bathroom renovation or million dollar coaches. Sterling won’t do it.

In his deposition during Fitch’s contract dispute, Sterling was asked if he had known Bill Fitch to lie. He answered “no.” Sterling was then asked the same question about Andy Roeser and Elgin Baylor. His answered remained the same. Finally, Sterling was asked about Bob Weiss, who coached the Clippers during the 1993-1994 season.

Q. How about Bob Weiss? Have you ever known him to lie?

A. I don’t know who he is.

Just a few years prior, Weiss had taken Sterling and the Clippers to court for, you guessed it, refusing to pay out a guaranteed contract.

It’s easy to interpret this situation as the organization slapping Dunleavy in the face. It is not. That slap was delivered with one of the most vindictive press releases in recent memory. That slap was not telling Dunleavy he was fired before releasing the news during a Clippers broadcast. This? This is just an old man sticking to his code. It doesn’t matter if he’s known you for seven years or barely knows your name — if he fired you, he’s not paying you. No way, no how.

So…who wants to come coach the Clippers?

• Our friends at ClipsNation.com are having a big sponsored game night Saturday, April 10th against the Warriors. After reading Steve’s teaser, it’s hard not to get excited. All the information about the event can be found here. I’ll definitely be there – should be a very fun evening.

• Lisa Dillman at the Times introduces you to new new General Manager, Neil Olshey.

• Since Mike Dunleavy stepped down as coach and Marcus Camby was shipped to Portland, the Clippers have had only two games where they’ve posted a defensive efficiency number under 100. Even worse, both were against bottom dweller Sacramento. Remove the head, and the body will still flail around a bit. Remove the head and the body, and what are you left with?

• Adrian Wojnarowski of Y! Sports talks about Donald Sterling: “Donald Sterling has always talked a big game, but he’s never gone after a star GM in his prime. Dunleavy leaves the franchise set up in some good ways, but Sterling doesn’t understand that winning in the NBA doesn’t come from empty words in absurdly worded press-release firings, doesn’t come with throwing red meat to a fan base that wanted the old GM embarrassed and fired on the spot.”

• Bill Plaschke, doing some true California dreamin’: “Now introducing, Clippers forward LeBron James and two of his high school chums as general manager and coach. Crazy, too, but that’s the thing about what happened Tuesday. The Clippers didn’t lose a general manager, they gained a world of possibilities.”

From my story at TrueHoop:

Sources around the league maintain that with Dunleavy focused primarily on his coaching responsibilities, Olshey has been the main pipeline into the Clippers’ organization for a while now. Though Dunleavy — and Clippers president Andy Roeser above him — had veto power over any personnel moves, Olshey was the guy you called when you wanted to discuss deals. If that premise is correct, then Olshey had a big hand in getting the Clippers where they want to be financially heading into the summer.

The Clippers are placing a premium on flexibility as they strip their personnel down to the bare essentials in preparation for an active offseason. Only Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin, Chris Kaman and DeAndre Jordan are under contract for 2010-11, and the organization will have somewhere in the neighborhood of $15-16 million to spend in free agency. Removing Dunleavy further enables them to reformulate, rebrand and reload.

In addition to extending a hefty contract to an elite player, might the Clippers also be looking for big names to preside in the front office and on the sidelines? Hours before the Clippers announced Dunleavy’s termination, a report surfaced that Larry Brown reached out to the Clippers regarding a possible return to Los Angeles. Given the outcome in Charlotte’s ownership situation, the likelihood of Brown taking a second tour with the Clippers seems unlikely, but the rumor does speak to the Clippers’ desire for a complete makeover.

The timing of Dunleavy’s firing is interesting considering that the Clippers are playing out the string under an interim coach. Evidently, the organization decided that even with one year remaining on his four-year, $22 million contract extension, Dunleavy’s presence no longer offered value for the future. Personnel decisions of this magnitude are usually couched in conciliatory language, but the Clippers’ press release was especially pointed:

The organization has determined that the goal of building a winning team is best served by making this decision at this time. The team has simply not made sufficient progress during Dunleavy’s seven-year tenure. The Clippers want to win now. This transition, in conjunction with a full commitment to dedicate unlimited resources, is designed to accomplish that objective.

The Clippers have placed themselves in a unique and advantageous position. Last month, they signaled that there’s a potential opportunity for a top free agent to name his own coach. On Tuesday, that hypothetical was extended even further — name your own coach and general manager.

If only the Clippers could say, “Name your owner.”

Mike Dunleavy being let go from his duties as General Manager is obviously shocking. Poor Kim Hughes found out about it after the game through Dain Blanton, the sideline reporter for Fox Sports Prime Ticket. According to an agent that spoke with Adrian Wojnarowski, Dunleavy himself may have had no idea he was being released up until just recently. The whole move feels a bit impulsive. Early conclusions would lead one to believe this was fully a Sterling orchestrated firing, right down to it being announced during a game broadcast.

News of Dunleavy’s release leads to a bunch of questions that will soon be answered. What does this mean financially for Dunleavy and the Clippers? Was there some sort of buyout involved, or will Dunleavy get paid the full remainder of his contract? Does Donald Sterling have someone in mind to replace Dunleavy? Why do this now and not a month ago? Were Dunleavy’s trade deadline deals, where he seemingly improved the outlook for the Clippers’ future and netted Sterling a few million in the process, deemed “bad” moves by ownership?

Regardless of whether or not Dunleavy deserved to be let go for his performance as GM, one thing remains clear: This is a step in the right direction, and that has plenty more to do with Sterling than it does with Dunleavy. For years Sterling was reluctant to open up his wallet and build a winner. He wouldn’t sign free agents. He wouldn’t buy players or coaches out of contracts. He’d basically do nothing that didn’t make perfect sense financially for him. Well, this move doesn’t make a whole lot of sense financially for him, but Sterling did it anyway for what he believes to be the betterment of the franchise. That’s progress.

It will be interesting to see if the Clippers shy away from their follies of the past. Having one man be both Head Coach and General Manager clearly didn’t work out the first time, and though some will blame that solely on Dunleavy, it’s hard to argue that the sharing of those titles in today’s NBA is ideal.

We’ll have plenty of more reaction, analysis, and updates on this situation as more details unfold. Stay tuned.

From Clippers.com:

The Los Angeles Clippers and General Manager Mike Dunleavy today have severed ties. Dunleavy previously also served as the team’s head coach from 2003-04 until February 4, 2010, when he resigned as head coach.

The organization has determined that the goal of building a winning team is best served by making this decision at this time. The team has simply not made sufficient progress during Dunleavy’s seven-year tenure. The Clippers want to win now. This transition, in conjunction with a full commitment to dedicate unlimited resources, is designed to accomplish that objective.

Neil Olshey, presently the Clippers’ Assistant General Manager, will assume the duties created by Dunleavy’s departure. He joined the organization as Director of Player Development for the 2003-04 season. He served as an Assistant Coach in 2004-05, and was elevated to the position of Director of Player Personnel from 2005-06 through 2007-08. He assumed the role of Assistant General Manager prior to the start of the 2008-09 season.

Olshey has played an important role in the completion of several significant team transactions, including the deals which brought Marcus Camby, Craig Smith, Rasual Butler, Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw, and Drew Gooden to the Clippers, among others. He also played a integral part in administering all preparation for the Clippers’ last four NBA Drafts, which produced Al Thornton, Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, and last year’s #1 overall pick, Blake Griffin.

We’ll have more coverage on this surprising move after tonight’s game.

Marcus Camby on his new situation: “Anytime you get traded it’s always an awkward situation, especially when you’ve been in a place for a couple of years, you’re used to your surroundings, you know, you enjoy the situation that you’re in. But then to find out you’re traded and you have to move on to new surroundings, it’s always difficult. But once you sit back and digest the situation and take a moment to yourself to analyze how things are – where you’re at and where you’re going – it’s a no-brainer. The Clippers are going in opposite direction than what I would have liked in my career. Coming to Portland and being surrounded by the great players that we have – Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge – it was a no-brainer. I definitely welcome the situation to be in playoff contention again, and I definitely can’t wait to get started.”

Mike Dunleavy speaks about the possible return of Marcus Camby: “We love Marcus as a player. Everything about his game and what he does for this team. Like I said, we’ll see how things go forward. Marcus is a free agent. We have a lot of cap space this summer — and you never know how things work out.

Chris Kaman riffs on roster turnover: “That’s why I trust, I have to trust, that the decisions they make are the right ones for the team long term. Obviously we didn’t perform the way we were capable of this season. I’m not saying that it’s over but it’s going to be tough to come back and win games when everybody is on different pages and new players are shuffling in and out of the locker room and in the lineups…and Kim is having to deal with all that. It’s just tough.

Kim Hughes gives some insights on Chris Kaman emotions in his first pre-game interview: ” I’ve talked to Chris, and let me preface this by saying Chris is retarded. …He’s really not. He’s emotionally handicapped, actually. Chris is a wonderful, caring person.”

Byron Scott on the Clippers job: “Man I will tell you what… You have seen me there every day. I am at the gym and having a great time. It is the first time since I have been playing or coaching that I have had this type of time where I can enjoy my family, my wife she goes to the gym everyday as well, and kind of just relax. To be honest with you for the past two months I really haven’t been thinking about coaching or anything like that until the last couple of weeks. You get that itch, especially when it gets close to playoff time. I am just going to kind of sit back until April or May and survey what is going on out there because there is obviously three jobs available right now. One I already had obviously in New Orleans and you have got Jersey and you have got the Clippers… There is going to be three or four more when the season is over that is going to be available as well. So I am just going to kind of sit back and take a look at the teams, do a couple of interviews and just kind of pick the team that is the best fit for me. I do think the Clipper job is a pretty good job for me. They have got some young talent. Obviously they are going to have a lot of cap room and another lottery pick coming in. So I think it is a pretty good job. I am just going to sit around and just kind of evaluate everything that is going on and try to make a decision I think that will be best for my family.”