HoopsHype.com Rumors

This happened with scouts Scott Wissel and Jerry Holloway a year ago. They made less than six figures a year, and the Clippers simply stopped paying them. Essentially, Sterling was telling them, “The season’s over, and so what if your deal runs October to October. It’s April, get lost and we aren’t paying you.” Eventually, Holloway won a settlement, and Wissel had to fight more than a year to get part of his money. Where was the league office? Where was Stern’s indignity? Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Clippers, Coaching, Donald Sterling 

Big and small markets. Winning and losing franchises. Great and lousy general managers and coaches. Old and new owners. They all agree: Don’t push Stern too hard because there will be a price to pay. Better off bowing, kissing the ring and shuffling past him. Anything goes in Stern’s NBA, except challenging the emperor. The league office never cares about criticism about most of its biggest stars, owners and coaches. In some cases, it’ll openly encourage it. Want to invite a call to your boss? That’s easy. Pull back the curtain on the commissioner. Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Clippers, Coaching, Donald Sterling 

Clippers owner Donald Sterling testified Tuesday about his past deep loyalty and trust for former executive Elgin Baylor despite an admission by the owner that he wasn't completely clear about the NBA legend he appointed vice president of player personnel in 1986. "You didn't know about his basketball career?" Baylor attorney Carl Douglas asked Sterling in his first day on the stand as Baylor's wrongful termination civil lawsuit against the team continued at a Los Angeles courthouse. "His accomplishments? The Hall of Fame?" "No," Sterling answered. "... I didn't know that. I hired him for $3,000 a month. I didn't really know what his role was.... He was working in a mail-order company back then." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Clippers, Law, Donald Sterling, Elgin Baylor 

Douglas' questions revealed the significant distance Sterling kept from the team he moved from San Diego in 1984. The organization has appeared in four postseason series since. When asked about a Baylor predecessor, Sterling said the name Carl Scheer "sounds familiar." He added, "I don't profess to know anything about basketball. I'm a professional lawyer." As for what he recalls about Baylor taking over basketball matters, the owner said, "[Baylor] … ultimately made $500,000 a year. Somewhere in between, he assumed that role." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Clippers, Law, Donald Sterling, Elgin Baylor 

Sterling testified he paid Baylor whatever annual salary he would ask for and said he gave Baylor wide latitude in the team's handling, including what to pay coaches and whom to sign and draft. "Elgin Baylor wouldn't tell me the players he was drafting. He was afraid I'd tell another owner," Sterling testified. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Clippers, Law, Donald Sterling, Elgin Baylor 

The owner dismissed the attorney's suggestion that the Clippers discriminated against Baylor because of his age. Baylor was 74 when he was terminated in 2008. "He's 6 feet 7," Sterling testified. "If somebody wants to harass him, I'd like to see him do it." The NBA "is like musical chairs, they constantly remove and change owners, general managers, coaches and agents, but I had a man I protected for 22 years.… He kept telling me it would get better. I kept hoping it would get better. It didn't get better. It got worse." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Clippers, Law, Donald Sterling, Elgin Baylor 

Ultimately, Sterling testified he agreed with the move to designate Baylor a consultant, testifying, "The record speaks for itself. Of course, I was disappointed. I'm spending one-third of a billion dollars to win, and who's in charge of winning? Elgin Baylor is a good person, but we lost seven out of 10 games with him. How can anyone feel good about that?" Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Clippers, Law, Donald Sterling, Elgin Baylor 

The former general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers has dropped allegations of racial discrimination against the team, but is pressing ahead with allegations that he was fired because of age discrimination. Elgin Baylor, 76, sued the team, owner Donald Sterling, and the NBA in February 2009, claiming he was wrongly fired after 22 years. Baylor decided to drop the racial discrimination claim element of his case just as jury selection was about to begin. Jury selection was set for Monday, and opening statements were likely on Tuesday. NBC Los Angeles

Los Angeles Clippers, Donald Sterling, Elgin Baylor 

General manager Neil Olshey played it straight when I asked how he persuaded Clippers owner Donald Sterling to agree to such a monumental organizational milestone. "A third of our roster is 22 years old and under," he said. "That's enough. "Now we need some guys that have been to the playoffs, that know how to win, that are veterans. So a guy like Mo Williams, who's been to the playoffs everywhere he's played, is a guy that can give directions to our younger guys. "Had we not drafted well, you're reluctant [to trade a lottery pick] because you're hoping the next draft is where we'll get the guy. But we've hit home runs four years in a row, so now it's time to add a veteran piece to this group." ESPN.com

Los Angeles Clippers, Neil Olshey, Donald Sterling 

After starring at UCLA, Davis' pro career took him to Charlotte, New Orleans and Golden State before he eventually signed as a free agent with his hometown Clippers. But things never worked out there and by early this year, owner Donald Sterling actually was heckling Davis from his courtside seat. "You never expect the person who signed you to a contract to be the one who hates you the most," Davis admitted. Cleveland Plain Dealer

Los Angeles Clippers, Baron Davis, Donald Sterling 

There were rumors that Davis hated Cavs coach Byron Scott when the two were together in New Orleans. While they didn't get along, they have since patched things up and Davis says he's thrilled with the chance to play for Scott again. "I look at it as a rebirth, a new beginning," Davis said. "I'm excited, just watching this team. Having played for coach Scott, I know we're together for a reason. There's some things my game can benefit from just playing in his system. I'm just looking forward to the challenge to come out play with a lot of passion entertaining basketball and give it my all for the fans of Cleveland." Cleveland Plain Dealer

Los Angeles Clippers, Baron Davis, Donald Sterling 

Contrary to some reports, there's no thought of buying out Davis. The veteran's agent said Davis will report soon, possibly as early as today. News-Herald

Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Trade, Baron Davis, Donald Sterling 

One day after the Clippers sent Davis to the Cavs, the veteran point guard was still having trouble believing he’d been traded, a source close to him said. The L.A. native was supposed to help turn around the Clippers after signing a big contract in 2008. Instead, Davis battled injuries, conditioning problems and his own inconsistent play. Clippers owner Donald Sterling had even heckled him early in the season. Yahoo! Sports

Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Trade, Baron Davis, Donald Sterling 

Melo has shown no inclination whatsoever to go to L.A. And he's probably been advised by everyone around him that Donald Sterling is the last person on earth he wants to work for. So as appetizing as a Gordon-Melo-Griffin nucleus sounds, I can't see this one happening. ESPN.com

Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Trade, Carmelo Anthony, Donald Sterling 

When the Clippers' team bus returned from a morning practice and pulled up to their hotel on a cold day in Detroit in mid-December, the coaches and staff stepped off and walked inside. The players stayed in their seats. They had something urgent to discuss — privately. Even with young sensation Blake Griffin in their lineup and a new head coach in Vinny Del Negro, the long-suffering NBA franchise was staring at another miserable season. The Clippers had arrived from Philadelphia where they'd lost their fourth consecutive game. Their record was a dismal 5-21. And back in Los Angeles, media reports had surfaced that frustrated team owner Donald Sterling had heckled veteran point guard Baron Davis and other players from the sidelines during games. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Clippers, Blake Griffin, Vinny Del Negro, Baron Davis, Donald Sterling 

Three sources describe an exchange in an owners meeting in Las Vegas a year or so ago: Sterling: You don't want to hear what I have to say. Stern. Yes, we do. Sterling. No you don't. Stern: Yes, we do. Sterling: OK, I would fire you. You're great at marketing, but you're not tough enough with the union. Los Angeles Times

David Stern, Las Vegas, NBPA, Donald Sterling 

There’s only one consistent theme that emerges from the latest filings obtained by ESPN.com in Elgin Baylor’s wrongful termination lawsuit against the Clippers: getting owner Donald Sterling to spend money on players is a daunting prospect. Declarations from Baylor, the Clippers’ former general manager, and Mike Dunleavy, the coach who took over Baylor’s general manager duties before Dunleavy lost both jobs, were included in Baylor’s response to the Clippers’ motions for summary judgment. The Clippers' legal action, filed in November, had essentially asked the court to dismiss Baylor’s suit in which he claims he was fired on the basis of age and race. ESPN.com

Los Angeles Clippers, Mike Dunleavy, Donald Sterling, Elgin Baylor 

Dunleavy said that Sterling "always told me to give him a great player and he’d pay for him, but there were several players I wanted to sign and we didn’t because Sterling refused to spend the money. The Clippers' biggest concern was making a profit." ESPN.com

Los Angeles Clippers, Mike Dunleavy, Donald Sterling, Elgin Baylor 

Baylor took it a step further, adding a racial component. "Because of the Clippers unwillingness to fairly compensate African-American players we lost a lot of good talent, including Danny Manning, Charles Smith, Michael Cage, Ron Harper, Dominique Wilkins, [Corey] Maggette and others," Baylor said. ESPN.com

Los Angeles Clippers, Mike Dunleavy, Donald Sterling, Elgin Baylor 

Baylor, who describes himself as "an African-American male over the age of 40" in the declaration (the NBA Register lists his date of birth as Sept. 16, 1934), said that Sterling and Clippers president Andy Roeser made references to his age for the last 10 years of his employment and questioned his ability to still do his job. ESPN.com

Los Angeles Clippers, Mike Dunleavy, Donald Sterling, Elgin Baylor