Monday, July 10, 2006
Changing of the Guard in LA
With the tentative agreement between Sam Cassell and the Los Angeles Clippers, Donald Sterling and Elgin Baylor have shown the NBA that "the other team" in Los Angeles is no longer Clipping costs for wins.
The NBA's 2005-06 season should be here-in dubbed "The Year of the Clipper." There was no more a dramatic turn-around from a historical perspective than what was done last year. For the entire season, the Clippers were in the hunt, made key midseason acquisitions, and showed the West there was a new gunslinger in town. Everybody started to listen, even the media.
Especially in the playoffs, almost everything that was written about the playoffs concerning the Los Angeles Clippers has had to do with their emergence as a contender. Doug Collins praised the efforts of Mike Dunleavy, saying that the make-over for this team started when Dunleavy was brought in (some, however, would opine that Dunleavy's choice to bring in Daniel Ewing in Game 5 cost the Clippers their season). Others looked to Elton Brand, the horse that led Los Angeles to the playoffs for the first time since 1997. I, on the other hand, have a different thought.
In October, during training camp, most of the media had the Clippers towards the bottom of the barrel. They had the horses, but years of Clipper futility had trained the media not to expect much from the Staples Center basement-dwellers. Sometimes when everyone expects so little of you, you start to believe it yourself. Cassell and Cuttino Mobley didn't.
From the first practice of the '05-'06 season, Cassell and Mobley orchestrated a plan to make sure this year's team knew what was at stake, an actual shot at a championship. When Dunleavy called water breaks in the middle of practice, everyone scurried over to the coolers for some mid-practice relief. Cassell and Mobley? They practiced free-throws. Every practice, every water break, there was Cassell and Mobley shooting free-throws during the break. By the end of training camp, it wasn't just Cassell and Mobley bypassing the hydration, everyone did.
Cassell brought an attitude. He came in with the mindset, you're either with making it to the playoffs, or you're not going to make it through the season (see: Chris Wilcox). He did it in Houston as a rookie. He did it in Milwaukee with Ray Allen. Cassell helped Minnesota out of the first round. But his biggest resume filler is what went on in Hollywood last year.
That's what makes this re-signing so special. Elton Brand may be the future of the franchise, its best player, the face of this basketball team — but Cassell, he's the engine.
In the first game of the 2005-06 season, Cassell made it clear what he was bringing to the table, a winner. He scored 35 points in his debut, including three three-pointers in the final five minutes, leading the Clippers' 37-point fourth-quarter charge and a 13-point comeback. He did it again a few games later against his old team Minnesota. During it all, he continued to tell everyone, this is not the old Clippers team. Yet still no one believed him.
It took a first round demolishment of a befuddled Denver team to get everyone's attention, the first playoff series win in California, and the first for the franchise since 1976. Thirty years! Then the acknowledgments started to come. The Clipper bandwagon became a Hummer limo. Even Jack Nicholson showed up at a Clipper game. Clipper Nation was in a state of flux. And after every clutch shot Sam I Am would do his gesticulator dance to show everyone that this team has marbles.
This wasn't a quagmire. Everyone in the NBA knew that the reason for the 10-game turn-around, and the deep run in the playoffs had a lot to do with Cassell being in red and blue. The big question was, would Sterling and Co. put up the money to see 'ol No. 19 back? As little as a week ago, when asked how important the Cassell signing was to the Clippers, Baylor said, "How important is breathing?"
He also said Vladamir Radmanovic and Cassell were the organization's top priority. On July 1st, the first day teams could negotiate with free agents, Radmanovic took the quick stroll across the hall to the Lakers. Clipper pessimists started to worry. Walking around Los Angeles, and talking to Clipper fans this summer, "The Nation" spoke like there was a perfect game in progress, no one wanted to speak about Cassell, no one wanted to jinx it.
The thing was, no one west of the Rockies saw this as an important signing. It was the Ben Wallace sweepstakes. Who would get the best one-sided player in the NBA? Can you tell me how a player who is the second coming of Dennis Rodman gets this much pub? But I digress. Clippers with Cassell, playoffs. Los Angeles with out the veteran point, lottery. That's what it comes down to and that's what everyone knew. What other player carries that much cred? Even in Michael Jordan's prime, the Bulls still made the playoffs the year after his first retirement. Now don't get me wrong, Cassell isn't in the same area code as Jordan, but in terms of winning, they share the same zip code.
So when Sunday came and this flashed across my screen: Cassell reportedly agrees to re-sign with Clippers for two years $13 million. My first thought was that Baylor and Sterling showed the NBA this team is for real, and the Western Conference better watch out. L.A. brings almost the same team to the table next year, barring something drastic in the offseason or regular season, and a Finals appearance isn't completely out of the question.
They have the experience of last year, they have the talent, the depth, the length, size, speed, and shooting to do it, and they're getting better. It's just a matter of believing. And as long as Sam Cassell is leading the offense, Donald Sterling, Elgin Baylor, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Sprit Dancers, the media, and all of Clipper Nation are able to believe, and finally after years of torment, breathe.