The AP reports: Kobe Bryant scored 33 points and Andrew Bynum added 26 on his 22nd birthday for the Lakers, who began the evening with a ceremony unveiling the franchise’s 15th gold-and-purple championship banner, earned four months ago after defeating Orlando in the finals… Eric Gordon scored 21 points for the Clippers, who lost their ninth in a row to the Lakers. Chris Kaman added 18 points and 16 rebounds, Marcus Camby had 14 points, and reserve Craig Smith 12. Baron Davis was held to two points on 1 of 10 shooting while hampered by a bruised right foot that he soaked in ice afterward… Ron Artest scored 10 points in his debut in the starting lineup. Pau Gasol sat out with a strained right hamstring and was replaced by Odom, who had 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Category: Los Angeles Clippers Blog
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Blake Griffin out up to 6 weeks
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Los Angeles Clippers’ rookie forward Blake Griffin suffered a non-displaced stress fracture of his left patella during the Clippers’ last preseason game vs. the New Orleans Hornets on Friday, October 23rd.
Griffin, who underwent an MRI yesterday which confirmed the diagnosis, was examined by both team physician Dr. Steven Shimoyama as well as specialist Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Based on communication between the two physicians, it has been determined that Griffin will be sidelined for approximately six weeks.
During this time Griffin will receive bone stimulation and PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) treatment.
Griffin originally suffered a bruised left patella during practice on Thursday, September 24th and was eventually cleared to resume full basketball activity.
Griffin, the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft, averaged 13.7 points, 8.10 rebounds and 28.0 minutes in seven preseason games played.
Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.
Craig Smith good at injuring his Clippers teammates
Power forward Craig Smith, a new member of the Los Angeles Clippers, has been making a strong impression on his new teammates. That being, stay away from him or bad things may happen to you.
Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times reports:
Rhino’s wreckage has taken out two teammates. First, it was rookie power forward Blake Griffin’s knee (four days before training camp), and on Friday, Marcus Camby, though that was more of a fluke when Camby rolled over on his left ankle and sprained it close to the end of practice.
Camby was clearly in pain and sat on the floor for several minutes before he was able to hobble back to the training room. He is doubtful with the Clippers facing three exhibition games in the next four days, starting today against Utah at Staples Center.
Earlier in the week, the 6-foot-7, 250-pound Smith seemed genuinely mystified about how Griffin got hurt in the first place in their informal scrimmage before training camp.
The bone bruise kept Griffin out until the second game of the exhibition season.
Hopefully Smith has not hurt any of his fellow Clippers during the time it took me to post this entry.
Clippers exercise options on Eric Gordon, Al Thornton
The Los Angeles Clippers today exercised the club’s third-year contract option on guard Eric Gordon and the fourth-year contract option on forward Al Thornton.
Gordon, who was selected by the Clippers as the seventh overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, begins his second NBA season and is now signed through the 2010-11 campaign. Under the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Clippers had the right to exercise this contract option.
Gordon turned in a stellar rookie campaign, averaging 16.1 points in 78 games played last season, earning him a spot on the All-Rookie Second Team as well as seeing him finish fifth in Rookie of the Year voting.
Thornton, the 14th overall selection by the Clippers in the 2007 NBA Draft is now also signed through the 2010-11 season, with the Clippers holding the right of first refusal. In two seasons with the Clippers, Thornton has tallied 15.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
NBA tells bench players stay seated so fans can see
Good NBA seats are expensive. Fans shelling out big money to sit near the court should expect a good view of the action.
But what about when players get off the bench and remain standing for a while? On the one hand, it’s nice to see guys cheer their teammates. On the other, these giants prevent fans from seeing what they paid to see.
The Cavs are one team with players who remained standing a lot, and now the league office has reportedly taken action.
Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:
The NBA has issued a memo to its teams directing players on the bench to remain seated during games. Game officials will be keeping a closer eye and will issue faster warnings and possible technical fouls if not followed. Players are permitted to cheer, but standing during regular-game action and blocking the fans’ views apparently isn’t going to be allowed.
That goes for Tuesday night’s first preseason game at The Q, where the Cavs will host the Charlotte Bobcats in the first of eight practice games before the season opener.
The Cavs weren’t exactly thrilled that their custom has been legislated.
“It is hard to take that out of the game,” LeBron James said. “Part of the game is emotions, your teammates are all you have. That was part of the reason we played great basketball, because we cheered each other.”
I support the league protecting the paying fan’s view.
Oct 4: Warriors 108, Clippers 101
The AP reports: Anthony Morrow scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half and the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers 108-101 on Sunday night in the preseason opener for both teams. Kelenna Azubuike added 19 points and 10 rebounds and Corey Maggette had 18 for the Warriors. Stephen Jackson scored 11 and Anthony Rudolph added 10. DeAndre Jordan recorded a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers. He made all eight of his shots. Eric Gordon added 19 points and Chris Kaman had 13.
Clippers hire John Lucas as assistant coach
The Los Angeles Clippers today added coaching veteran John Lucas as an assistant coach to Head Coach and General Manager Mike Dunleavy’s staff.
Lucas joins the Clippers after last serving as the Head Coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2001-03. While in Cleveland, Lucas coached current Clippers Ricky Davis and Brian Skinner. Lucas came to the Cavs after working as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets for three seasons.
Overall, Lucas brings six years of NBA head coaching experience as he led the Philadelphia 76ers from 1994-96 and the San Antonio Spurs from 1992-94 with an overall NBA head coaching record of 173-258 (.401). While in Philadelphia, Lucas also served as general manager and vice president of basketball operations. As head coach of the Spurs, he led the team to a 94-49 (.657) record and two consecutive playoff appearances. In addition to his NBA coaching experience, Lucas was the owner and head coach of the Miami Tropics of the United States Basketball League (USBL) from 1992-93 and led the Tropics to a 38-9 record and two USBL championships.
Lucas began his 14-year NBA playing career during the 1976-77 season after he was made the first overall selection in the 1976 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets. Lucas played for six different teams during his career, including Houston, Golden State, Washington, San Antonio, Milwaukee and Seattle and was named to the NBA All-Rookie team in 1977 after averaging 11.1 points on .477 (388-814) FG% with 5.6 assists per game for the Rockets. In 928 career NBA games, Lucas averaged 10.7 points with 7.0 assists and is currently in 21st place among the NBA all-time assist leaders (6,454 assists). He also played in 45 playoff contests and averaged 11.2 points on .451 (198-439) FG%, including a career-high 15.6 points in 12 postseason games for the Bucks in 1987.
In 1990, Lucas founded and became President of John Lucas Resources, Houston, Texas, a network of drug treatment programs aimed specifically at helping athletes.
A 1976 graduate of the University of Maryland, Lucas earned All-America honors in 1975 and 1976 as well as a bachelor’s degree in Education. He later continued his studies at the University of San Francisco where he earned his master’s degree, also in Education.
The addition of Lucas completes Dunleavy’s coaching staff of Tony Brown, Kim Hughes and Fred Vinson.
Clippers re-sign Brian Skinner
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The Los Angeles Clippers today re-signed unrestricted free agent forward Brian Skinner. Per team policy terms of the contract were not released. InsideHoops.com assumes (but has not confirmed) that it’s a very short contract for the league minimium.
In 51 games played with the Clippers last season, Skinner averaged 4.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 16.5 minutes per game. Over his 11 year NBA career, Skinner has tallied 4.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 18.3 minutes per game.
On June 30th, the Clippers announced that Skinner had decided not to exercise his player contract option for the 2009-10 NBA season, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Skinner was originally drafted by the Clippers in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1998 NBA Draft.
Clippers re-sign Steve Novak
The Los Angeles Clippers today announced that the team has re-signed restricted free agent forward Steve Novak. Per team policy terms of the deal were not announced.
In 71 games played for the Clippers last season, Novak averaged 6.9 points in 16.4 minutes per game. Completing his third NBA season, the sharpshooter out of Marquette connected on 119-286 three-pointers (.416) on the year.
InsideHoops.com editor says: Novak is a tall dude who can toss in some outside jumpers.
Timberwolves sign Ramon Sessions to offer sheet
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The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed restricted free-agent guard Ramon Sessions to an offer sheet. Under the terms of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Milwaukee Bucks will have seven days upon receiving the offer sheet to match Minnesota’s offer.
SEPT. 11 UPDATE: The Bucks did not match the offer.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the deal was for four years and $16 million.
“We are excited about the opportunity to have Ramon Sessions on our team,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “Ramon has the ability to play both guard positions, and thus will be able to complement the members of our current backcourt. At only 23, Ramon also has the potential to improve and fits our plan of building a young, up-tempo team with championship contending potential.”
Sessions, a 6-3 guard from Nevada-Reno, had a break-out season in 2008-09, averaging 12.4 points (.445 FG%) and 5.7 assists in 27.5 minutes per game in 79 contests (39 starts). His 5.7 assists per game led the Bucks and ranked 18th in the NBA. Sessions scored in double figures 53 times (12 times 20+ points), dished out 10+ assists on 10 occasions and posted nine double-doubles during the season. Additionally, he finished the year with a 2.97:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, the ninth-best ratio in the NBA. He scored a career-high 44 points, along with 12 assists, against Detroit on Feb. 7.
In 2007-08 as a rookie, Sessions averaged 8.1 points, 7.5 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 17 games. He set a Bucks franchise record with 24 assists against Chicago on April 14, while also tallying 20 points. He became the first Bucks player to notch 20 points and 20 assists in the same game. Selected by Milwaukee in the second round (56th pick) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Sessions has averaged 11.6 points, 6.0 assists, 3.4 rebounds in 27.3 minutes per game in 96 contests (46 starts).