RealGM

clipsfever wrote:Congrats Ralph!

(any other summer we might be giving a thought to Bill Fitch - 99 Clipper wins. Fun Playoff Team: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996%E2%80%9397_Los_Angeles_Clippers_season )

So it was something of an act of cosmic cruelty when the Clippers became an instant power over the summer by acquiring Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as soon as Lawler and his wife had packed up and moved to Oregon. No one had borne witness to more Clippersian dysfunction, and no one seemed more deserving of a splendid season.

Lawler said he was thrilled when he heard about Leonard and George — “I said, ‘What!’” he recalled — and he still has no regrets about stepping aside when he did. He is often reminded of a piece of advice his father gave him: Better to retire a year too early than a year too late.

“Based on how I’m feeling, I may have retired too early,” he said. “But I didn’t want to be too late.”

It helps, he said, that he left the broadcast in good hands with Brian Sieman, who moved over from the radio side to replace Lawler on Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket, the Clippers’ television affiliate. Sieman has his own style and is forging his own path. Lawler said he was planning this season to avoid Staples Center — where the Clippers and the Lakers play — because he did not want to be a distraction.

“Brian is like family,” he said.

Still, this new life has not always been easy. Lawler said he was talking with a neighbor who confessed that it had taken him five years to adjust to retirement. Lawler hopes it does not take him quite so long — but he understands. He misses his co-workers. He misses the ushers. He misses the adrenaline of the crowd and the connection he felt with the fans watching at home.

“I miss not having a microphone around,” he said.