The Clippers sink again

By Derek Daggett Sports Central Columnist

Alvin Gentry's sentence was commuted this week, as the Los Angeles Clipper's mercifully fired him as skipper of their sinking ship. The Clippers are headed for the NBA lottery again, nothing new for this moribund franchise. The biggest question about another lost season, though, is why it happened. The answer lies in two words -- Donald Sterling.

Sterling represents everything that is wrong with professional sports today, and it is fine time the NBA does something about him.

The Clippers were being touted as pre-season playoff contenders. The baby Clips sold out most of their games at the Staples Center last year, and were considered one of the most exciting young teams in the league. With the addition of Andre Miller to complement Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, and Michael Olowakandi, the missing piece was finally in place, and the Clippers were finally going to the playoffs.

The season was lost, though, before the first game tipped off.

Talks in Clipper camp this summer centered around the youthful core of this team, but the conversation had nothing to do with basketball. It had everything to do with finances. Would The Donald (as he is affectionately known in LaLa land) finally pay his high draft picks and let his team gel? Summer came and went and no contract extensions were dealt, and all the good will this team had generated evaporated in a cloud of smoke. That, and a myriad of injuries that allowed this team's starting five to play together only once, spelled another trip to lottery land.

The real tragedy of this season is that one of the best young teams in the league will once again be broken up, and Clipper castoffs will once again have solid careers in other cities. More importantly, The Donald may have finally lost his fan base in L.A. And this is where the NBA needs to step in.

Far be it from me to tell an owner how to spend his money and run his team, but don't the Clipper fans deserve some form of dedication from the ownership? Season ticket sales were at an all-time high for this club in the offseason because the fans believed. But The Donald could have cared less.

The NBA needs to step in and tell The Donald this... "Either pay to put a winning product on the floor, or get rid of the team." The league suffers from having teams like the Clippers, the Nuggets, and the Cavs bring down the level of play. The league suffers from having an owner who cares only about the bottom line, all while saying winning be damned. If you are looking to make a solid monetary investment, I could find a million other places than a professional sports team.

The fans, the players, and ultimately the league need to have Donald Sterling gone. Clipper fans deserve to see this team stick together and grow into the power they can become.

It's time for The Donald to pull up his anchor and sail off into the sunset.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.