The Clippers Just Demonstrated to the World Exactly Why they are the Clippers

Doc
KG
Paul Pierce

Throw in Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and miscellaneous other contributors and what do you get?

Instant contender.

And not just contender.

Favorite.

Or at least one of the favorites to win the crown in 2014.

So what on earth just happened?

I'm not exactly sure, but I would say it is a combination of ego, poor judgment and lack of guts.

Let's take ego first.

Obviously someone in the Clippers organization felt that if the deal was going to happen, it could only happen one way. The Clippers Way. Even when Danny conceded ground, day after day, the Clippers decided that wasn't enough, and tried to force the Celtics to jump through new hoops. Ultimately, Doc must have wondered who hell are these guys? Have they never done business before? Most importantly, why would I or anyone else I care for want to go to work for them?

Now let's move on to poor judgment.

If the Clippers were run by Danny Ainge, the deal would have gone done long ago. Why? You tell me what the key pieces to the deal are. Getting Doc, KG, and P-squared, but not giving away Blake Griffin or Chris Paul. As Danny Ainge, once you've compiled that collection of talent, you realize that free agents will come running to LA, and on the cheap.What you also understand is that persons named Bledsoe and Deandre and assets like late first round picks are all small beer when you are trying to assemble a team for its only championship run in NBA history.

The Clippers missed the boat on this one.

(ah ha ha. missed the boat. clippers. get it?)

Finally, this brings us to lack of guts.

At its essence having guts means throwing caution to the wind to achieve an important objective. What we saw the Clippers do in the Doc Rivers Drama was the exact opposite. They micromanaged every detail of the negotiations, trying to make the deal so one-sided that not even a total imbecile would have accepted the terms, and anyone with half a clue would have stopped the talks dead in their tracks, which is exactly what Doc and Danny did.

And there is the real kicker, especially if you were a Clippers fan rooting for this deal to go through.

The deal started out with Doc wanting to coach the Clippers, and having convinced both KG and #34 that playing for the Clippers made sense. A couple weeks later, having watched the Clippers mismanage the negotiations so badly, Doc had been driven away, and is now actually considering coaching the Celtics again next season.

Wow.


The Los Angeles Clippers.

Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition.

Any guesses where Chris Paul will wind up next year?