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"The Clippers already had a reputation as a horrible franchise" when Baylor, a former Lakers star, took over the Clippers player-personnel duties in 1986, Pittman said. "Whereas the Lakers had ownership showing an interest in winning, Mr. Baylor accepted a position that was challenging, a team that has a tradition of losing and unwilling to pay or re-sign key players." Platt, the Clippers' attorney, in court named Reggie Williams, Joe Wolf, Terry Dehere and Michael Olowokandi among Baylor's poor first-round draft picks "that have gone away in the wind," while Baylor let free agents like Kobe Bryant and Carlos Boozer sign with other teams. "The team did sell hope — hope that Mr. Baylor would pick the right player, and the team's lack of success directly affected the team's financial success," Platt said. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Clippers, Law, 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 

Mike Trudell: On the stage with Jerry West: Mitch Kupchak, Dr. Buss, David Stern, Pat Riley, Kareem, Bill Russell & Elgin Baylor. Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Mitch Kupchak, Pat Riley, Jerry West, David Stern, Elgin Baylor, Bill Russell 

A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles tentatively denied a request to dismiss a wrongful termination suit brought by Elgin Baylor, the NBA Hall of Famer and former Clippers executive, against the Clippers and three other defendants. At a hearing Thursday, Judge Kenneth R. Freeman scheduled another hearing for Feb. 3 to make a final ruling on whether the civil case should proceed to trial, tentatively set for March 2. Baylor, 76, spent 22 years as the Clippers’ executive vice president and general manager until August 2008. In his lawsuit filed in February 2009, Baylor alleged he was fired and suffered age and race discrimination while with the team, among other things. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Clippers, Elgin Baylor 

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 

Dunleavy referenced similar comments about Baylor’s age from the Clippers’ upper management, but Dunleavy stated, "The entire time that I worked for the Clippers, I never saw any change in Elgin’s ability to perform his duties, or that his age had any adverse impact on the performance of his duties and responsibilities as general manager." Dunleavy said that during a team trip to Russia in 2006, Clippers officials were dining at a restaurant called Rasputin when Platt, the Clippers' attorney, told him that the Clippers thought Baylor was too old and they were going to fire him. While the Clippers told Dunleavy that Baylor only wanted to work for two more years, Dunleavy said he never heard that from Baylor, and Baylor said in his statement that he never told anyone that he wanted to retire. ESPN.com

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

Dunleavy said he wanted to make Baylor aware of his increased role, but he never did so directly. Dunleavy said he tried to bring it up in a meeting with Sterling, Roeser and Baylor, but was cut off by Sterling. Dunleavy said that "I always tried to keep Elgin in the loop and let him know what I was doing", but Baylor said he was caught off guard when Neil Olshey (whom Baylor described as "a protégé of Mike Dunleavy") was named the new director of player personnel instead of Baylor’s choice, Gary Sachs. "There were other instances where Dunleavy negotiated deals that I learned about through the media," Baylor said. ESPN.com

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

"While ignoring my suggestions and isolating me from decisions customarily reserved for general managers, the Clippers attempted to place the blame for the team’s failures on me," Baylor said in the declaration. "During this same period, players Sam Cassell, Elton Brand and Corey Maggette complained to me that DONALD STERLING would bring women into the locker room after games, while the players were showering, and make comments such as, 'Look at those beautiful black bodies.' I brought this to Sterling’s attention, but he continued to bring women into the locker room." ESPN.com

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

Also revealed in the filings was that the Clippers had offered Baylor, on Aug. 13, 2008, a retirement package consisting of a contract as a consultant. This would have paid him $120,000 for the next year and then operated on a month-to-month basis, plus four season tickets for the next three years and other perks. Baylor never signed the deal and did not offer a counterproposal. “I didn’t discuss any terms,” Baylor said in the deposition, referring to his brief meeting with team President Andy Roeser. “I just told him this was insulting and I just can’t believe this. I just thought it was ridiculous.” Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Clippers, Law, Donald Sterling, Elgin Baylor