Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis has become famous for his white jump suit and the saying "Just win, baby." Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones receives all sorts of criticism for lingering on the sidelines during the fourth quarter. Washington Redskins faithful lament the moves of their dot.com boy-wonder owner Daniel Snyder, and everyone seems to have an opinion about the antics of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
Despite the wide range of criticism -- and praise -- that these men have received for how they operate their teams, they all have one thing in common: they are trying to win. Each of these owners puts time and money into their team with the hopes, perhaps misguided, of putting a winning product on the field. Not counting baseball owners, for they are a rare breed, one owner above all others seemingly prefers the motto, "Just penny-pinch, baby." If it ever became legal to eliminate an owner, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling would be on the top of my list to get the axe. Sterling is responsible for his club's pathetic history, and you know what the worst part is? He does not seem to care about changing the Clippers' losing tradition.
The lovable, energetic, high-flying Clippers have a roster that at least three-fourths of the NBA teams would completely trade for in a heartbeat. The Clips not only have talent but young, athletic talent. (The other) L.A. has loads of young, able bodies. A rundown of its lineup is more like a who's who of up-and-coming talent in the NBA. Elton Brand is an All-Star caliber big man who consistently provides leadership along with 20 points and 10 rebounds a night. Swingman Lamar Odom, at 6-foot-9, can play all five positions, shoot, pass and rebound. Center Michael Olowokandi is as sweet as his nickname in the middle and has made himself one of the most improved players over the last few years. Although he lost his partner-in-head-banging-crime Darius Miles, shooting guard Quentin Richardson keeps tapping his forehead with both fists clenched after one of his many impressive plays and gives the Clips an instant spark off the bench.
And then there's last-year's assist leader and newly acquired point guard Andre Miller. At age 24, Miller is easily one of the top three all-around point guards in the league. Throw in the likes of Corey Maggette, Keyon Dooling, Chris Wilcox and Eric Piatkowski, and the Clippers go 10 deep with talented young players.
So what's the problem, you might ask? In a word: Sterling. Because he refuses to pay his players close to market value, or even to discuss the possibility of long-term contract extensions, Sterling puts all his players in a state of limbo unsure of where they will play when their contract runs out.
For example, Olowokandi, Brand, Odom and Miller all become free agents at the end of the season. Dooling, Maggette, and Richardson do so in the summer of 2004. How many have received contract extensions? Zero. Zilch. How many have even received a good faith promise to negotiate a new contract close to their market value? None. Nil. The null set. Nada (you get my point). Sterling traditionally has refused to pay market value in re-signing his players; consequently, the list of talented ex-Clippers is longer than the Endangered Species List. In fact, come to think of it, a gifted, young Clipper is an endangered species.
Believing there is little chance they will be re-signed, the current Clippers have turned into playing every man for himself -- trying to pad stats in order to gain a better position come what the Clippers refer to as the "postseason." (For everyone else, its called free agent season).
As a result, the Clippers have averaged over 17 turnovers a game while only making 19 assists per 48 minutes. Even All-Pro floor leader Miller has not been immune from trying to do too much. He's averaged three turnovers per match and is shooting under 40 percent from the field. Along with a nearly equal assist-to-turnover ratio, the Clippers 3-7 record (as of yesterday) best tells the story. With more talent than arguably any team not in the state of California (i.e. Shaq's Lakers and the Kings), the Clips should be much better than a 3-7 team that most likely will not make the playoffs yet again. And the main culprit? Not a player, but an owner complacent with penny-pinching and keeping his millions rather than giving his players the security they need to play as a team and not look ahead to figure out how to snag their next contract. Never before has an owner's lack of action proven the cause of a team's complete inaction.
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