From 2003 to March 2010, there has been a dark cloud of the Los Angeles Clippers….. well, darker than normal. Now there is a time for celebration for Clippers fans all over.
Mike Dunleavy was FINALLY relieved of his duties as the Clippers General Manager.
Just a little over a month after stepping down as coach he was fired (6 years too late), to his surprise.
Clippers owner Donald Sterling made announced his decision through and email, and in Sterling fashion, hadn’t even spoken to Dunleavy Sr. about it. Mike found out about his firing from messages left on his phone while he was out playing golf. He didn’t know what to tell people since it was the first he had even heard of it. Pretty messed up but hey, it’s the Clipps, what do you expect??
As a coach Dunleavy has had an up and down career. He lead the Lakers to 2 straight playoff appearances (‘90-91, ‘91-92 seasons), while winning the Western Conference Championship (’90-91) and losing to the Bulls in the finals. He left the Lakers and went the Milwaukee Bucks where he has a .326 winning percentage. In ’97 he joined the Portland Trailblazers and lead them on a nice run that included one season where they finished 18 games over .500. After his stay with the Trailblazers he came to the Clippers with some hope of turning the cursed franchise around….. he had one winning season, and one playoff appearance and one win from the Western Conference Finals. He leaves the clips with a .397 winning average and the distinction of being the only coach in NBA history to have a sub .400 avg. with 2 teams that he coached 300+ games for. Congrats on that one Mike.
To his credit, he did a good job to secure cap space for the summer, and there were many injuries that went on through his time with L.A., but you can only use that excuse for so long. He wasn’t a terrible GM, but he was far from a great.
I don’t know mike, I’m sure he is a great guy, but after making so many bad calls during games (basketballs version of Andy Reid) and carrying a bad career mark along with the obvious lack of respect players tend to have for him (see: Clippers ’08-’09), I hope he doesn’t find his way onto another bench, but I’m sure he probably will. With any luck we won’t see him on t.v. either. The last thing we need is another Steve Phillips on the air.
So Mike, please, go fishing, take a vacation, travel. Do anything you want, just stay away from a basketball court or a t.v. or radio booth.
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Iverson is acting up, the Clippers and Knicks are horrible, and Stephen Jackson is pouting. Things are pretty normal in the NBA this week.
Lebron
One thing we can count on this season is that pundits, commentators, announcers, and Craig Sager will all hit us over the head with the fact that the 2010 class of free agents is the greatest class of all freaking time. One free agent in particular will be under a microscope. LeBron James will be dissected for any hints of his intentions to flee Cleveland.
This past weekend, King James claimed that he will choose his next team based on their chance of winning. I would think this would preclude the Knicks from the discussion but you never know. Sure they will have the cap space for a generous offer but there are no guarantees that any supporting cast would like to join LeBron in one of the two worst teams in the NBA.
Clippers
This brings me to the end all be all of horrible franchises. The Clippers started off the season with evidence that god does not like them. This came in the form of injury to their latest first round pick Blake Griffin. Things looked promising when they were able to cap off three consecutive wins. That all came to a halt on Monday night when they were pummeled, at home, to the Hornets, by 28 points. On paper the Clippers look like a seven or eight seed. But it’s hard to win when you are pre-ordained to be miserable by a higher power.
Stephen Jackson
In his latest effort to get traded, Stephen Jackson’s agent Mark Stevens made public attacks on Warriors head coach Don Nelson and questioned his trustworthiness. It seems that Jackson has had about enough of the Warriors and really wants to leave. He probably could have helped himself out by not signing a three year $28 million contract. If things have gone south, the best way to get what you want is not to scream and shout like…wait, no that is precisely how you get what you want in the NBA. Look for Jackson to be traded shortly.