Bill Simmons' Open Letter to Blake Griffin

[mattfish]

Did you guys read this? Man Bill Simmons loves writing about the Clippers.

I studied the Clippers mess for three days, put everything on paper and tried to figure out a common thread. Blaming Moses Malone was too easy. Why would Moses curse the Clippers? The man could barely speak. Blaming Bill Walton ignored three years of misfortune that came before him. Blake, this went deeper than one person. This was karmic. This was creepy. This was like … they'd been hexed. Like they had built an arena on a sacred burial ground or something.



And that's when I realized what happened. In a way, they did mess with a sacred burial ground. They messed with the Indians. And you don't mess with the Indians. Ever.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090624&sportCat=nba

[Roscoe Sheed]

This article is totally hilarious. Sad thing is that most of it is true

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I knew that our franchise had a bad history but I had no idea it was really that bad. But like Blake said the past is the past. Dumb moves were made in the past and we've made smarter moves more recently. Like I said before this franchise just needs an attitude change, and maybe a new owner.

[madmaxmedia]

If only Griffin was like 1/32 Cherokee or something like that, it would dispel the curse for sure.

[bbsee1]

Wow, check out the results from the poll question on whether Blake should run away from this team.

[cinnamon]

I really can't argue with a word he says here.
Except that if Griffin really wants a career in the NBA, then instead of playing in Greece this year, he should play gently through his rookie contract here, getting regular blessings and healings from energy workers and shamans, etc. and then jump ship at the first possible moment for a better-run NBA team. And the league is full of them, let's face it.
Who could seriously argue with Simmons about Clippers management?
I didn't know all that far-back history, but it certainly looks to me as if Dunleavy and Sterling are going out of their way to live down to it.

[PerkinsFor3]

funny thing is, simmons forgot to mention all the great fa signings, getting undrafted players, good deals (he mentions losing brand for nothing, which wasnt bad, since he proved to be injured and overpaid...so why mention him??? and we got brand for chandler. chandler!!!)

so he needs to be a bit more honest here

[thanumba2clippersfan]

^Yeah, he did forget to mention some of the more positive events that have happened over the years.

[madmaxmedia]

He did actually mention the Brand trade, as well as getting Maggette.

The article wasn't meant to be a complete history of the Clippers, just to illustrate the many lowlights through the years. Some through stupid decisions, some through pure bad luck. I didn't know there were so many bad injuries!!

The worst was all the times the Clippers seemed to be the odd man out in various drafts (picking 7th in a 6-man draft, etc.) It's ironic that in the year of the 1-man draft, we actually have that pick.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

The current poll has 84% say that Blake should run and that 16% say he shouldn't. I guess the 16% are Clipper fans or those who don't believe anything bad will happen.

[bcortell]

did you guys check out Bill Simmons Twitter (http://twitter.com/sportsguy33). He had some stuff to say about your coach.

[jflipclip]

Yeah, there's a Simmons/Dunleavy thing going on now. Heard it on the radio (ESPN's the Herd) and I guess that's when Simmons started doing all the tweeting. I think Dunleavy was asked what he thought about the article and called Simmons a joke writer. Simmons fired back by saying Dunleavy is making history for being such a bad coach and lasting this long.

Well, I think most of us hate Dunleavy and Simmons' article is quite frank... this feud is going nowhere. Simmons, we've been making fun of Dumbleavy for the past four-five years, tweeting about it now is a bit late.

[mkwest]

"(Simmons') historical look at the franchise is essentially accurate and interesting, if somewhat incomplete. His Opinions are childish. There is no "Curse." Henry [statsman: that's me!], you properly note that Olowokandi was the Consensus #1 pick in 1998. Nobody's draft board had Carter, Pierce, Jamison or Nowitzki going #1. It's just that Michael's Heart was not into the game and he kept that very well hidden prior to the draft."

- Ralph Lawler

From another Clippers board. Ralph said this on his facebook.

[loflin3hree5ive]

"(Simmons') historical look at the franchise is essentially accurate and interesting, if somewhat incomplete. His Opinions are childish. There is no "Curse." Henry [statsman: that's me!], you properly note that Olowokandi was the Consensus #1 pick in 1998. Nobody's draft board had Carter, Pierce, Jamison or Nowitzki going #1. It's just that Michael's Heart was not into the game and he kept that very well hidden prior to the draft."

- Ralph Lawler

From another Clippers board. Ralph said this on his facebook.

I love Ralph. That is absolutely true. There was one player who was tied to the #1 pick besides the Kandiman and that player was Mike Bibby. Basically, in 1998, Blake Griffin was to Michael Olowokandi as Stephen Curry is to Vince Carter. Of course, Simmons would ignore such uncommon knowledge as the pre-draft stock of the '98 draft class in an effort to get readers to go along with his curse he is preaching.

[Latrell]

Actually, Olowokandi being the consensus #1 in '98 proves the curse even more. Think about it.

[GreenDreamer]

Celtic fan here. Winning in any sport starts with ownership. Good owners hire good front office people and good coaches. Then with the right organization in place and some luck you can really build a good team.

Case in point: Kraft turned the awful Patriots - a terrible team - into a great team by doing what I said above. John Henry put the Curse to rest in Boston in two years by doing the same. The Boston owners are all in touch with each other, so Kraft and Henry convinced Grousbeck and his group that you could win and make money if you actually WANTED to, and were SMART about how you did it. The result? Title #17. The three of them put pressure on the Bruins ownership to suck it up and do the same. Now they are getting better and better, finishing with the NHL's best record this season.

What has been happening in Boston isn't happening by accident. There is a real desire to win here, and the teams are doing their best to build strong organizations with a real plan on how to make it happen. If your ownership doesn't get with the program, you guys need to force them out. This can actually be done, mind you. If the fan base revolts, it can get rid of bad owners.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

We all know the reason for the bad history in Los Angeles is because of the owner. I believe that Donald Sterling doesn't know too much about basketball. I hops to get a new owner who's dedicated to winning and really cares about basketball. We have a lot of good pieces to the team right now. We just need to make smart moves.

[SportsFan215]

We need a GM, not named Dunleavy, that Sterling believes in, so he only has to worry about the financial aspect of the team.