Sterling goes off

[Det the Threat]

Seems like Clippers owner Donald Sterling has had enough of his teams play as he ripped them after Monday nights loss to the Spurs.

The situation had already been touchy late Monday after the Clippers' 28-point loss against the San Antonio Spurs. Owner Donald Sterling, frustrated by what he perceived as a lack of effort, went on a tirade in the locker room afterward.

According to team sources, Sterling offered a blanket denunciation of the players and strongly backed Coach and General Manager Mike Dunleavy. The owner said he would be willing to trade all the players and said he was putting their future in Dunleavy's hands.

Grizzlies end losing streak against Clippers

Hmm....so the GM/Coach is safe and all the players aren't?
Seems strange to me.


BTW: Here a great take on this by ClipperSteve on ClipsNation.
Owners Gone Wild - Sterling and Cuban Go Off on Their Teams

Thoughts?

[PlinkingPanda]

Well.. All I gotta say is we're fooked if he trusts Dunleavy that much..

[Hooch20]

Well.. All I gotta say is we're fooked if he trusts Dunleavy that much..

He can't exactly go off on the coach and GM of the team in front of everyone.

[PlinkingPanda]

Well.. All I gotta say is we're fooked if he trusts Dunleavy that much..

He can't exactly go off on the coach and GM of the team in front of everyone.

Yes I know, but I think it's just silly to give the coaching staff a pass when they should be included for the miserable season we're having. I wasn't really saying this is all on Dunleavy's shoulders. Everyone is at fault for the miserable season.

[boogizking]

if dunleavy gets an extended tenure beyond his contract, my faith and "fanship" in the clippers will be in doubt ... i hate dumbleavy

[JJ LoDuca]

What. The. F.

[PerkinsFor3]

Sterling, according to the sources, blasted players by name, including the team's second-leading scorer Al Thornton. In one exchange, Sterling called Thornton the most selfish basketball player he has ever seen. When Thornton asked coach Mike Dunleavy (who was standing nearby) how he was playing, before he could answer Sterling told Dunleavy to "shut up" according to one of the sources.

http://blog.cleveland.com/bransonwright ... t_209.html

[cinnamon]

Just when you think this guy has got as embarrassing as humanly possible through his appalling decision-making, among other things that everyone in the league can enumerate, he finds another depth to sink to. Who would have known he could find a new and even more mortifying and deeper level to personally drag his franchise down to?
Storming into the locker room, screaming and swearing at the players who have been playing through a terribly injury-ridden season, and exempting the coaching staff from any responsibility for the team's record? What an outrage. Imagine how those men feel, going out there with dignity each time in their Clipper jerseys, trying to be a team and trying to play well in the face of the conditions they have been up against all year.
It really makes you wonder how distorted is the reality Sterling builds for himself. It's beyond ordinary fantasy --- it's waa-aay out there.
I only hope that the players understand that this says nothing whatever about them.
It says an enormous amount about the lack of character and lack of judgment of the man who, most unfortunately, owns the team. If anyone were to be screamed and sworn at, surely it should be him. Although, of course, screaming and swearing accomplishes nothing positive and is instead very destructive.
Imagine the impact this will have on the players. I can hardly bear to think about it.

[magee]

What a (woman's bag).

*Sorry.

[SD2042]

What. The. F.

Took the words out my mouth JJ.

[illastrate]

Just when you think this guy has got as embarrassing as humanly possible through his appalling decision-making, among other things that everyone in the league can enumerate, he finds another depth to sink to. Who would have known he could find a new and even more mortifying and deeper level to personally drag his franchise down to?
Storming into the locker room, screaming and swearing at the players who have been playing through a terribly injury-ridden season, and exempting the coaching staff from any responsibility for the team's record? What an outrage. Imagine how those men feel, going out there with dignity each time in their Clipper jerseys, trying to be a team and trying to play well in the face of the conditions they have been up against all year.
It really makes you wonder how distorted is the reality Sterling builds for himself. It's beyond ordinary fantasy --- it's waa-aay out there.
I only hope that the players understand that this says nothing whatever about them.
It says an enormous amount about the lack of character and lack of judgment of the man who, most unfortunately, owns the team. If anyone were to be screamed and sworn at, surely it should be him. Although, of course, screaming and swearing accomplishes nothing positive and is instead very destructive.
Imagine the impact this will have on the players. I can hardly bear to think about it.

It's been awhile since I've been this depressed as a fan. This is the darkest of the dark. How is that that two crooks (Sterling and Dumbleavy) have virtually sucked the life out of this franchise? Unbelievable.

[NYCF]

According to team sources, Sterling offered a blanket denunciation of the players and strongly backed Coach and General Manager Mike Dunleavy. The owner said he would be willing to trade all the players and said he was putting their future in Dunleavy's hands.

Clearly, the NBA Board of Governors needs to immediately institute a rule whereby continued ownership of an NBA franchise is contingent on one being mentally competent. Obviously, Sterling has lost his marbles. I suspect he contracted syphillis from one of the call girls he likes to patronize and it is slowly destroying what is left of his peanut brain.

[madmaxmedia]

LOL, considering that these are all basically Dunleavy's guys.

EDIT- On second thought, no LOL. I read the complete CipperSteve article, boy is it depressing. I don't love Al Thornton, but calling him the most selfish player yada yada is about the lowest thing I've ever seen. Especially when Corey Maggette was on this team just last season!

I can't imagine anybody on the team actually wanting to break a sweat for the Clippers after that.

[JJ LoDuca]

This is really the lowest of low, I mean...if you're DTS and you're gonna be mad, the players are the last guys to criticize, especially if you're gonna completely exempt the coaching staff from any responsibility. If Dun had any balls he would've taken at least some of the blame and put it on himself. This is unbelievable, and I wouldn't blame Thornton or anyone else for suffering some kind of hair follicle injury and sitting out the rest of the season.

Like NYCF said, these are definitely the outbursts of a syphillitic mind....and if it's only "slowly destroying" him, that sucker needs to hurry up!

[loflin3hree5ive]

Just because Sterling *says* he has confidence in Dunleavy doesn't necessarily mean that he does. Owners/GMs say that all the time then turn around and fire coaches sometimes within weeks.

Sterling doesn't make much sense IMO. Last year during a injury plagued year, DTS questioned Dunleavy. A little over a year later with a textbook definition of an underachieving team and Sterling has evidently pulled a 180. I don't get it.

But say what you want about Sterling, if he ever sold the team there is a good chance the Clippers would relocate to another city. DTS has heavily increased his spending and Dunleavy has put together a talented roster without too much long-term commitment. Complain about it all you want, at least we've had hope the past four years or so with Dunleavy making basketball decisions (excluding last season) that the Clippers at least have a chance to make the playoffs each year if you look at their roster on paper. Before Dunleavy's arrival, I can't remember any such optimism about the talent on the Clippers roster year in and year out.

[madmaxmedia]

Your points are well taken, although it's sort of like complimenting an abusive boyfriend because he happens to be a good cook.

I think even if Sterling sold the team, there's a great chance the Clippers stay in LA. The team is profitable while many others lose money, even with a often questionable product on the floor. They play in a new arena and had actually built up a decent fanbase a couple of seasons prior. I don't really see any reason for a new owner to move the team, considering there's not great pickings out there.

I also give Dunleavy a good amount of credit for whatever success the Clippers have achieved lately, but not all. For awhile he was able to ride the team that was largely built before he arrived- the 2000 draft that landed us 3 first round picks, the Elton Brand trade, etc. We were just about .500 in Brand's first year and things were looking great until the wheels fell off the wagon with the Andre Miller trade. So I would say the pieces were already in place.

The funny thing is that I think Dunleavy has been a much better GM than coach here...

[PlinkingPanda]

Those comments towards Al is probably from his craptacular play in that game. He did shoot 5-19 afterall, but it really went too far. I'm a little worried that this outburst can cause our players to not even want to be a part of this franchise. Meaning we can go back to our old ways of being an "NBA farm team" and developing rookies to let them resign elsewhere. -.-

[JJ LoDuca]

I'm a little worried that this outburst can cause our players to not even want to be a part of this franchise.

Exactly what I'm thinking.

It's like ClipperSteve said in his article; it's one thing if an owner is consistently involved and outspoken and has an outburst. It is 100 times worse if an owner has nearly no involvement with the team or its players and barges into the locker room (where ClipperSteve reports he hasn't been in 6 seasons) to curse out the players and tell the coach to shut up. Its about time for DTS to keel over already.

[CLiPPzWeRD12]

Just when you think this guy has got as embarrassing as humanly possible through his appalling decision-making, among other things that everyone in the league can enumerate, he finds another depth to sink to. Who would have known he could find a new and even more mortifying and deeper level to personally drag his franchise down to?
Storming into the locker room, screaming and swearing at the players who have been playing through a terribly injury-ridden season, and exempting the coaching staff from any responsibility for the team's record? What an outrage. Imagine how those men feel, going out there with dignity each time in their Clipper jerseys, trying to be a team and trying to play well in the face of the conditions they have been up against all year.
It really makes you wonder how distorted is the reality Sterling builds for himself. It's beyond ordinary fantasy --- it's waa-aay out there.
I only hope that the players understand that this says nothing whatever about them.
It says an enormous amount about the lack of character and lack of judgment of the man who, most unfortunately, owns the team. If anyone were to be screamed and sworn at, surely it should be him. Although, of course, screaming and swearing accomplishes nothing positive and is instead very destructive.
Imagine the impact this will have on the players. I can hardly bear to think about it.

It's been awhile since I've been this depressed as a fan. This is the darkest of the dark. How is that that two crooks (Sterling and Dumbleavy) have virtually sucked the life out of this franchise? Unbelievable.

I'm glad some of you guys feel the same way. After reading about this today, I almost ripped all of my Clipper stuff down from my cubicle at work, and I wanted to come home and have a bonfire with my jerseys.

This one really hit home today. For Sterling to do what he did, after all the time that I spend watching/following this team, it REALLY pissed me off. Now, all of the players on this team probably don't want to be here (and who could blame them?), I just see no bright future for this team. Usually I'm optimistic for "next season", but what do we really have to look forward to next season? It's going to be these same "selfish" players. What Sterling did was the last thing that we needed, at this point. I guess we saw how effective it was, when player sit out a half with a 'migraine', right Sterling?

[Roscoe Sheed]

this is just terrible. Somebody else definitely needs to own this team. I really want to cheer for the Clippers, but stuff like this is so discouraging.