Jordan deal? Clippers at a crossroads
Paul’s departure started end of L.A.’s glory days
LOS ANGELES – One night last week, as DeAndre Jordan walked toward the Staples Center parking lot and so many glum Clippers officials headed home, a fitting song blared in the background after their one-sided loss to Utah.
“Don’t let the light go out, it’s lasted for so many years,” Peter, Paul, and Mary crooned as the cleaning crew made its way through the stands.
If only for a moment, after six seasons of unfulfilled playoff promise came to an end when Chris Paul left in late June, there was a Big Three being heard from in this building again.
Five months after Paul’s decision to force a trade to the Rockets, and a week after Blake Griffin’s MCL sprain, the lights have officially gone dark in this place once known as Lob City. And now, with uber-competitive owner Steve Ballmer and his overhauled front office being put to a new kind of test as the Clippers have fallen to 8-14, every
thing is up for debate.
Three people with knowledge of the situation say Rivers is likely safe for this season, his championship résumé still held in high regard and injuries to four of five opening-night starters having made it unfair — in Ballmer’s eyes — to accurately judge his performance this season. Point guard Patrick Beverley (knee surgery last month) is out for the season, while guard Milos Teodosic (out since the second game with plantar fasciitis in his left foot) and forward Danilo Gallinari (13 games missed with a left glute injury) are likely to return soon.
While Gallinari could be back as soon as Wednesday’s game against Minnesota, Teodosic is likely to return at some point during the week of Dec.
Are the Clippers considering firing coach Doc Rivers, who had his front office duties stripped last summer and who has one season left on the five-year, $50 million deal he signed in the summer of 2014?