Donald T. Sterling turned heads by dining with the media Thursday night at the Pepsi Center before Game 3 of the Nuggets-Los Angeles Clippers playoff series. Owners eating with the media?
In seven years of covering the NBA for The Post, I’d never seen an owner enjoying meatloaf with reporters before a Nuggets game. But the perpetually black-clad Clippers owner is eccentric and tight with his wallet when it comes to his basketball franchise.
Clippers fans can look at Sterling getting a free lunch one of two ways. Either he’s saving money to help take care of soon-to-be free agents Chris Kaman, Sam Cassell, Vladimir Radmanovic and coach Mike Dunleavy. Or, this Clippers good-life cruise into the playoffs could end soon if Sterling reverts to his storied thrifty ways.
“I’m confident we’ll have these guys back,” Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor said of the team’s key free agents. “I’m not saying we’ll have everybody on the team back. But they are key people.”
For years the Clippers were known for three things: losing, being cheap and being the butt of jokes.
Now the “other team in Los Angeles” is enjoying its best season since coming to Southern California in 1978. The Clippers had a better regular-season record (47-35) than the Lakers (45-37) and are in the playoffs for the first time since 1997.
“We like the direction we are going,” Baylor said. “And we’re looking for bigger and better things in the future.”
There are potential problems, however:
* Word is the Clippers want to re-sign Radmanovic but want to move forward Corey Maggette because the team considers him a selfish offensive player.
* While Baylor wants to re-sign Cassell, don’t be surprised if the 36-year-old veteran goes elsewhere for one final big contract. He could change Staples Center locker rooms and join the Lakers.
* The team must re-sign Kaman to a lucrative long-term contract extension this summer or risk losing him after next season. If the Clippers don’t lock him up, numerous deep-pocketed teams will go after him with heavily front-loaded contracts.
“I don’t think Sterling wants to go over (the salary cap),” Kaman said. “So next summer who knows what will happen?”
* Dunleavy has one season left on his contract. Kaman said Dunleavy’s future with the Clippers will play a role in whether he will re-sign.
* While the Clippers are supposedly building a practice facility in Playa Del Ray, Calif., Baylor said he did not know when it was scheduled to be completed. For now, the Clippers practice at the Spectrum Club in El Segundo, Calif., where they don’t have private lockers or showers, share workout equipment with members and sometimes get distracted by guests looking for a game of H-O-R-S-E.
And don’t forget, in recent years the Clippers have let talented players go, such as Andre Miller, Lamar Odom, Earl Boykins (who was cut), Lorenzen Wright, Quentin Richardson, Darius Miles and Keyon Dooling. They kept Elton Brand and Maggette, traded for Cassell and signed Cuttino Mobley last year, which finally got them back to the playoffs.
So, will the Clippers stay on course or revert to their old ways?
“You never know what you’re going to get,” said Miller, now with the Nuggets. “With the success you kind of get a little spoiled. I know that you don’t want to start all over again.”
Said Cassell: “If it does fall back that way, they have no one to blame but themselves.”
Lithuania eyes Kleiza
While Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza must try out, Lithuania National Team basketball coach Antanas Sireika expects the rookie to make the world championship team with his country this summer.
“He has very good chances,” Sireika said. “Of course, there will be some competition for him, too, with several other players. But he has proved his skills and abilities, and I envision a much more important role for him.”
One potential snag for Kleiza could be if he plays on the Nuggets’ summer-league team.
“It would a big hit for our team if summer league interferes with Linas’ ability to play (for Lithuania),” Sireika said.
Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com. Spears can be heard on Thursdays on ESPN 560 AM on 4 p.m.
