Bill Simmons: Clippers as Dysfunctional as Ever

[Ranma]

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[nickhx2]

ok

[Ranma]

It would be very easy to dismiss Simmons' latest criticism as continued hate, but lest we forget, he has been pretty spot on in calling out Doc (based on Wojnarowski reporting) for bailing on the Celtics albeit biased. He was one of the most prominent sports personalities to cite the tension between CP3 and BG as well as CP3 and DJ, which led to the close call with Cuban's Mavericks.

I initially and reflexively wondered what is Simmons' problem but, upon brief contemplation, realized there are signs that point to this even though I disagree with the level of dysfunction. Here are a few points off the top of my head that would lend credence to BS's assertion:

1. Ballmer immediately extending Doc with a big-money, long-term deal and empowering him with coach and GM powers.
2. The lame logo re-design in the face of public criticism and ridicule.
3. The aforementioned near loss of DeAndre Jordan to Dallas.
4. The attempted circumvention of the salary cap in the sales pitch to DJ.

Is Steve Ballmer a clueless NBA owner? I think it's fair to say yes, but that should be rectified through experience. Is he worse than Donald Sterling? No and I would argue that they're not even on the same level. Sterling's actions as owner were of ill-intent whether it was cost-cutting or degrading his players as human beings. Ballmer, on the other hand, is enthusiastic and a novice with dreams of making the team the nation's foremost NBA franchise, even if it is misguided. The difference in personalities will surely get the Clippers closer to "Larry's" in more immediate fashion than Sterling ever did during his 33 years of ownership.

Can the Clippers be considered dysfunctional? I suppose given Doc's previous misdeeds as the roster-builder and the squandering of draft picks that resulted in the historic choke job against Houston this past postseason, but to imply that we're worse off than the Knicks and Nets is pushing it too far. The Clippers are legitimately considered as a championship contender while Dolan's Knicks are still looking for ways to bring back Isiah Thomas into the fold and Mikhail Prokhorov is now bored with his Brooklyn Nets as a hobby in looking to sell them.

There is no doubt there are still some details that need to be addressed like finding a competent medical and training staff, diminishing the influence of Doc Rivers, avoiding Dan Fegan whenever possible, hiring an actual graphics designer to create a good looking logo, etc. Hopefully, Simmons' public critique of the organization will spur movement to address these issues quickly before they build up to become a huge hindrance.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I'm biased here but I don't see how we are top 3 in dysfunctional franchises. However I think Balmer has a lot to learn about being an owner. I'll reserve anymore judgement based on anything else that comes out about the Clippers. Point blank we all know that Balmer is a million times better than Sterling.

[TucsonClip]

Ballmer signed off on the Dudley deal as well. Mainly, because he gave Doc the power to think up these types of moves. If you want to go back further, while Ballmer was still waiting for the sale to close, Doc drafted CJ Wilcox, even though we all knew he would never play and we didnt need him.

Add those to the four Ranma discussed (not to mention the meltdown against the Rockets) and I see where Simmons is coming from.

[Quake Griffin]

Not impressed. Seems forced. Typically, not how I view franchises that are termed "dysfunctional".

[Roscoe Sheed]

After DJ re-signed, the off season was definitely a success with Pierce, Josh Smith, Stephenson, and Johnson on board- what is so dysfunctional about that?

[Wammy Giveaway]

1. Ballmer immediately extending Doc with a big-money, long-term deal and empowering him with coach and GM powers.

This move was more a reward than a mindless move. Doc Rivers steered the Clippers through the entire Donald Sterling scandal, and felt it enough to make him the de facto GM. A better reward would have simply been a raise in salary, instead of full power and authority in addition to a raise in salary.

2. The lame logo re-design in the face of public criticism and ridicule.

On the record, I hate the logo too. But the Clippers were so afraid of the nautical allusions and jokes that came with it, they hoped that an abstract logo would erase their past. Instead, they are running away from it. A name change would have been widely accepted, but the Clipper's franchise career losing record would remain (which I think is at around the 2000s... ouch). They could have made a pledge to the NBA to disconnect themselves from the old regime, but then they would have had no Pacific Divisions as both were won under Donald Sterling. It was a lose-lose situation.

The aforementioned near loss of DeAndre Jordan to Dallas.

For all intents and purposes, I am gonna call this the complete loss of DeAndre Jordan. Yes, he did re-sign, but it required breaking a lot of unwritten rules. Technically, they were obeying the rules in CBA terms, but in the eyes of the 29 other teams, they thought that a verbal agreement was akin to a signature. At the time, the Clippers were really feeling it from the press after the Mavs secured their future. When DJ started having second thoughts, and murmurs of agent tampering were coming to light, the starting troops rallied to Houston to make amends.

In my opinion, today's Clippers are a product of self-consciousness. Because of their losing history, they've tried everything they could in order to gain some sort of credibility. They wanted to be loved, respected, treated fairly like the other NBA teams. But all it did was gave Doc Rivers the ability to apply quick fixes. He believed that a championship was the only thing that mattered; anything less than that was a failure. When the chemistry issues were becoming apparent in the middle of the season, Doc traded for his son Austin in an attempt to mend the chemistry, but it only further the public's concern of Doc as GM. Was he really about the team, or about his family?

The collapse in the playoffs might have exposed Doc Rivers as a mediocre coach, forcing his hand into finally reuniting with Paul Pierce. On one hand, it's a quick fix: a former Big 3 member, superstar, and NBA Finals MVP. If you want stats...

1. When Doc and Pierce are together, Doc's playoff record is 59-47. Without Pierce, Doc is 18-24.
2. When Doc and Pierce are together, their average defensive ranking is 7th. Without Pierce, their average defensive ranking is 17th.

On the other, it's a necessity in part of Pierce's ability to hit Sudden Death Shots and not being afraid of the moment. He can be the glue guy between Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan. Wouldn't be surprised if Doc gave Pierce partial captain status in certain games.

[QRich3]

lol that's a f*ckload of bullsh*t and I'm surprised there's people in here that buy into it.

Yes, Ballmer's made mistakes and is empowering Doc more than he should, but what's dysfunctional about making some mistakes in your first year on the job? is making a bad logo equal to being a dysfunctional organization? Does making a bad trade or two mean that you are dysfunctional from top to bottom? What the hell does the DJ situation have to do with the way the organization works? Same for the Lexus endorsement thing, I bet every organization does the same on those presentations, they probably just f*cked up by saying the brand or the digits explicitly and had the bad luck of getting caught. Whatever, if that's all the proof about the dysfunctionality I'll keep laughing my ass off at Simmons bitterness.

I'm not saying there isn't things behind the scenes that might give some truth to what he says, I'm saying he'd have no clue if they were, and neither would we. Simmons is as transparent as an 8 year old child mad at his mommy trying to get back at her. He just wants to stir the pot and see if he can get some bad press on Doc's doorstep.

[Quake Griffin]

lol that's a f*ckload of bullsh*t and I'm surprised there's people in here that buy into it.

Yes, Ballmer's made mistakes and is empowering Doc more than he should, but what's dysfunctional about making some mistakes in your first year on the job? is making a bad logo equal to being a dysfunctional organization? Does making a bad trade or two mean that you are dysfunctional from top to bottom? What the hell does the DJ situation have to do with the way the organization works? Same for the Lexus endorsement thing, I bet every organization does the same on those presentations, they probably just f*cked up by saying the brand or the digits explicitly and had the bad luck of getting caught. Whatever, if that's all the proof about the dysfunctionality I'll keep laughing my ass off at Simmons bitterness.

I'm not saying there isn't things behind the scenes that might give some truth to what he says, I'm saying he'd have no clue if they were, and neither would we. Simmons is as transparent as an 8 year old child mad at his mommy trying to get back at her. He just wants to stir the pot and see if he can get some bad press on Doc's doorstep.

It's opportunistic.
mistakes =/= dysfunction.

He's the average Real GMer who fell in love with the Clippers when CP3 came over because he was sure CP3 would bolt for "greener pastures" after 2 years. When it didn't happen, he used everything as a pretext to become a hater….flopping…talking to refs etc. etc. Now he's trying to shine the light on the Clippers' mistakes ever since Doc has been there and couching it in calling them dysfunctional to seem neutral. Coincidence? I don't think so.

The Lexus thing is such an obvious violation of the rules, I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of those rules that teams normally broke because no one snitched and somebody who is butt sore about DJ snitched….

[Woodsanity]

Extreme overexaggeration. Pretty obvious he has had something against the Clippers for a while despite being a "season ticket holder".

[QRich3]

The Lexus thing is such an obvious violation of the rules, I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of those rules that teams normally broke because no one snitched and somebody who is butt sore about DJ snitched….

Yeah, that's definitely it. When the Lakers met with Melo last offseason they included representatives of Anschutz Entertainment Group and Time Warner Cable, as well as the producer of Die Hard (lol) in the meeting. If I was very gullible I'd believe they didn't offer him anything specific and they only spoke about generalities and how many endorsement opportunities he'd have if he came to LA, but I'm thinking the only difference with the Lexus thing is somebody had a reason to snitch. How on earth would they know about something only mentioned in private? maybe DJ's agent is throwing a tantrum?

[GeekHann]

It would be very easy to dismiss Simmons' latest criticism as continued hate, but lest we forget, he has been pretty spot on in calling out Doc (based on Wojnarowski reporting) for bailing on the Celtics albeit biased. He was one of the most prominent sports personalities to cite the tension between CP3 and BG as well as CP3 and DJ, which led to the close call with Cuban's Mavericks.

I initially and reflexively wondered what is Simmons' problem but, upon brief contemplation, realized there are signs that point to this even though I disagree with the level of dysfunction. Here are a few points off the top of my head that would lend credence to BS's assertion:

1. Ballmer immediately extending Doc with a big-money, long-term deal and empowering him with coach and GM powers.
2. The lame logo re-design in the face of public criticism and ridicule.
3. The aforementioned near loss of DeAndre Jordan to Dallas.
4. The attempted circumvention of the salary cap in the sales pitch to DJ.

Is Steve Ballmer a clueless NBA owner? I think it's fair to say yes, but that should be rectified through experience. Is he worse than Donald Sterling? No and I would argue that they're not even on the same level. Sterling's actions as owner were of ill-intent whether it was cost-cutting or degrading his players as human beings. Ballmer, on the other hand, is enthusiastic and a novice with dreams of making the team the nation's foremost NBA franchise, even if it is misguided. The difference in personalities will surely get the Clippers closer to "Larry's" in more immediate fashion than Sterling ever did during his 33 years of ownership.

Can the Clippers be considered dysfunctional? I suppose given Doc's previous misdeeds as the roster-builder and the squandering of draft picks that resulted in the historic choke job against Houston this past postseason, but to imply that we're worse off than the Knicks and Nets is pushing it too far. The Clippers are legitimately considered as a championship contender while Dolan's Knicks are still looking for ways to bring back Isiah Thomas into the fold and Mikhail Prokhorov is now bored with his Brooklyn Nets as a hobby in looking to sell them.

There is no doubt there are still some details that need to be addressed like finding a competent medical and training staff, diminishing the influence of Doc Rivers, avoiding Dan Fegan whenever possible, hiring an actual graphics designer to create a good looking logo, etc. Hopefully, Simmons' public critique of the organization will spur movement to address these issues quickly before they build up to become a huge hindrance.

Spot on

[madmaxmedia]

If he has any inside stuff to support his claims, I'd love to see it. Otherwise nothing on the outside makes them a *Top 3 Dysfunctional* NBA franchise. And I don't even like Steve Ballmer (of course miles better than Sterling!!!!!)

Empowering your GM/head coach with championship credentials is generally seen as a good thing, even if we disagree with Doc's moves as GM. It's way better than the flip-flopping that Sacramento seems to be doing regarding Cousins, head coach, GM, etc. A couple of bad first round draft picks hardly qualifies your franchise as dysfunctional.

I think final consensus on DJ was that he was the one who woke up one morning with second thoughts and called Blake, in which case the Clippers IMO are free to try to convince him to come back. The problem is that DJ should've owned up to it and let Mark Cuban know during those days of indecision. Just take his call, then lock the doors and do what you want.

And after all the apparent *dysfunction*, we had a great offseason and really loaded up, while keeping our center. Not exactly an easy thing to do when you're up against the cap. In fact, we've had no problems attracting free agents either, if the franchise was such a joke behind the scenes I doubt that happens.

I do hate the new logo though!

[Ranma]

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[Quake Griffin]

edit….messed up

[Ranma]

I think some excellent points have been made all around. While I may not have been clear, my impression is that the issue is overblown, but I'm not willing to dismiss Simmons' assertion outright since I think there is some level of dysfunction in the organization. Whether they end up leading to our downfall again remains to be seen as Doc's previous mis-handling of things as the man in charge has surely led us short of expectations before.

I think D.J. Foster provides an excellent take on the situation in his latest article:

D.J. Foster, ClipperBlog.com (8/26/15)

The Jordan stuff is the meat of the book, as you’d probably guess. But you also find out about the inner-workings of the Bulls, and how everyone sort of hated Jerry Krause, and how there was all this tension and lack of trust between the players and the staff and how their previous failures to the Detroit Pistons had brought everything to a boil.

The Bulls were dysfunctional, basically.
...

The thing is, there’s this purveyed idea that every team that wins a title in this era has achieved this relationship nirvana between players and coaches and staff, when realistically, championships just tend to expunge most of the minor transgressions that took place beforehand.
...

Point being, Simmons isn’t necessarily pointing out that the Clippers are doomed because of the perceived dysfunction. He’s acknowledging the dysfunction for what it is. And there’s a lot of it. A small sampling:

• The Clippers hard-capped themselves, then dealt from a position of need and gave away a critical asset in a first-round pick just to remedy their screw up. Reading Doc Rivers’ responsibilities is like the start of a Hey Mon! skit…”I’m the head coach, the general manager, the president of basketball operations…”
• Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan had beef, then didn’t, but still might.
• There’s been a fine for a deal on the side being illegally added to the DeAndre Jordan negotiations, which is like getting caught by Paul Blart for shoplifting. (Wait, is Paul Blart actually good at his job? That would complicate this analogy.)
• Jamal Crawford, meanwhile, is twisting in the wind, left to cryptically tweet for the rest of his life.
• Hey, did you know Doc Rivers traded for his own son last year? No, really!

These are some of the things we know and there are probably a million other things we don’t know that would shock and awe.

And they’d all be made footnotes by a championship.

The 2015-16 Los Angeles Clippers: Embrace The Dysfunction

[TucsonClip]

Funny, I was going to write a piece very similar to Foster's but for Clipperholics. Still might, but much of what he said was either alluded to in Ranma's post or mine.

Look, just because the Clippers have been somewhat dysfunctional the last 15 months doesnt mean we are the Sacramento Kings. Nearly everyone on this forum, and others, have had issues with the points raised in this thread that somewhat support Simmons' take. When compiled together, one can see the outline of dysfunction.

Whats wrong with that take?

Overall, I dont think the Clippers are any more dysfunctional than the Golden State Warriors the two years prior to their title last season, the Houston Rockets and their quest to manage the salary cap perfectly to add max players mixed with calls for McHale's head, let alone the Miami Heat.

Step back off the ledge and look out over the scenery. The Clippers have had a multitude of problems, yet were this close to the conference finals and might have had the best offseason in team history.

[MrHill]

I agree with numba2's comments above...Simmons' comments, to me, reek of someone trying to stir **** around, perhaps as his own way of getting people not forget who he is since ESPN basically silenced him since the spring. Is it possible that there's a level of dysfunction within the Clippers organization...I wouldn't doubt it, but until actual stories come out, all it is speculation by someone trying to stay relevant.

[Quake Griffin]

My problem is the terminology.

I view dysfunction as riffs between factions of the team. PlayerS or super star to coach. Coach to FO. FO to ownership. Players to FO. etc. etc. Those Bulls teams most certainly were dysfunctional. Great. But dysfunctional. The 2014 Warriors were dysfunctional. The 2014 SF 49ers were dysfunctional. The 2004 Lakers were dysfunctional.

If you want to have a party and talk about all the shortcomings of Doc's tenure…be my guest. We can do that all day.

But as far as I can see, this organization, for better or for worse, has everybody pulling in the same direction. Why is that important? Because one good offseason + a trip to the finals means the Clippers aren't "dysfunctional" anymore and Simmons shuts his trap…and as far as I can see, dysfunction operates regardless of whether you're a winner or not (see 90s Bulls, 70s As, etc. etc.).