West a Clipper? Is it April?
Well, at least Jerry West isn’t a Celtic. Vaughn Hardenberg
Westwood
Maybe Jerry West can convince Steve Ballmer to move the Clippers back to San Diego. Steve Shaevel
Woodland Hills
I hope Jerry West doesn't play in any golf tournaments now that he is a Clippers employee.
He'll never get past the second round. Rich Sieger
North Hollywood
Name the NBA team: Lose a lot of games each year
Acquire marginal free agents with high-priced, long-term contracts
Keep ineffective management around for years
Experience serious injuries to key personnel
Replace your coach frequently
Skip the opportunity to hire the best basketball executive of all time
Sounds like the Clippers of old, but now it spells Lakers! Dennis Butkovich
North Hills
Jerry West is a Lakers legend, as a player and executive. No doubt. But, even as great as he was as a GM, our Lakers still won four NBA titles in the 16 years without him. So good luck with the Clippers, Zeke. If you can turn those once-perennial losers into a championship-caliber squad, you’ll be the real Magic man. Marty Zweben
Palos Verdes Estates
Here’s hoping that one of the greatest Lakers of all time isn’t treated by his new employer as poorly as they treated his former NBA Hall of Fame teammate, Elgin Baylor. Richard Whorton
Studio City
Having a ball
For a league that cherishes parity so much that it winks at teams dumping games in order to get a better lottery chance, you’d think the NBA would care more about the imbalances created by free agency. The addition of Karl Malone and Gary Payton to my Lakers was pathetic, LeBron James and Chris Bosh joining Miami was so calculating, but Kevin Durant’s move was the last straw.
Goodbye, NBA, you’ve joined the “one and done” NCAA. David Wilczynski
Manhattan Beach
Before we anoint the Golden State Warriors as the best team ever, ask yourself a question: Who would defend Shaquille O’Neal or Kareem AbdulJabbar after Draymond Green fouls out? (Hint: nobody!) Richard Raffalow
Valley Glen
If Dr. Buss were still around, he clearly would not deal the No. 2 overall pick in a draft widely considered to be very strong at the top for anything less than absolutely top-drawer talent, and those types of trades, such as the ones that yielded Hall of Famers Kareem (already in) and Pau (someday for sure) to the Lakers do not occur in today’s star-obsessed NBA.
Dr. Buss always went for the championship move. George Legg
Rolling Hills Estates
Dodging it
Memo to Andrew Friedman: It’s really just a spring update I have been saying from time to time for the better part of the last 21⁄2 seasons.
Trade, demote, or release Chris Hatcher yesterday. Harry Bluebond
Valley Village
SportsNet LA should offer Dodgers viewers a “Joe Davis only” audio option for its TV broadcasts. In that way, Dodgers fans would be well informed on the game, and avoid that nauseating over-earnest chatterbox Orel Hershiser. I, for one, would pay extra for that option. Harley F. Pinson
Bakersfield
In Anaheim . . .
Monday night the Yankees’ starting lineup had four .300 hitters; the Angels had none, but did have two starters below the Mendoza line, so far below they probably weren’t hitting their weight: Espinosa .166 and Valbuena (batting fifth) .173.
Little wonder attendance is down. Jack Wishard
Los Angeles
Instead of trying to gain market share with the Dodgers in all of Southern California, which will not happen in the near or distant future, the Angels should be more concerned that they are playing the role of bridesmaid in their own backyard. Cal State Fullerton is unquestionably the premier baseball team in the O.C. Larry Herrera
Redondo Beach
Ice time
With the NHL celebrating 100 years of hockey this year, (and having followed it all for the last 55 years), I was appalled at the blown call that negated the Predators’ goal in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. If “human error” by an out-ofposition official can determine a championship, why are there cameras covering every inch of ice? Philip DiGiacomo
Pacific Palisades
I would not have been surprised had Sidney Crosby passed the Cup off to the ref to let him have a go around the ice with it. Dan Johnson
Salem, Va.
The Hall truth
Thank you to the Baseball Hall of Fame and the geniuses holding the key to entry for confirming what has been known for as long as Pete Rose has been eligible for induction: You are an irrelevant, astoundingly hypocritical institution and you degrade the accomplishments of every person already inducted by blindly keeping Pete out. Richard A. Lovich
Burbank
Hype it up
We’ve heard of the “Thrilla in Manila,” so let’s call the upcoming fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather the “Brawl Where Nobody Cares at All.” Richard Katz
Los Angeles
The Mayweather-McGregor fight is now finalized for Aug. 26. And somewhere, the ghost of Al Capone is laughing in his empty vault. Mark J. Featherstone
Windsor Hills
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