On Wednesday, March 2nd, the LA Clippers posted a press release on their website announcing that they had traded Steven Esparza (one of their employees) for three tacos. The joke continues in the caption below the picture of Drew Gooden dunking-"Drew Gooden dunks all over Steven Esparza's head." Check it out-
Clearly this was a joke by someone who has a problem with Steven and, thus, the Clippers are not entirely responsible for this happening. However, this is a reflection of the professional atmosphere that exists within the organization. There was obviously a breakdown in either website security or public relations. If this is happening on the media relations side of the team, then there is a good chance that similar problems exist throughout the organization.
While organizational problems at the Clippers are nothing new, this incident serves as another reason for free agents to look elsewhere this summer. You're 25 and deciding where to spend the best years of your career: are you going to sign with the Clippers who have a tradition of failure, injuries, poor management, and now employees who issue false press releases? Probably not.
You can't blame GM Mike Dunleavy for these problems. He's done a respectable job building talent while he's been in charge. I doubt it was his decision to trade Thornton and Camby away for expiring contracts.
Instead, the main obstacle to these changes, owner Donald Sterling, sits at the top of the organization. As long as the Clips bring him some $$$, and an excuse to justify those annoying ads in the LA Times, then the Donald will not commit to winning. For over 25 years, the Donald has done things his way, why would he change now? Same old Clips.
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