Sorry, I would have added more but then the title would have been longer than the actual post. The real list would have also included taking the likes of Shaun Livingston, Darius Miles, Danny Ferry, Danny Manning, and Reggie Williams with top five picks in the NBA draft over the years. Come to think of it, most people’s lists would have ended at Ferry, because after screwing up that many drafts in a row, they would no longer have been employed. The Clippers have always been a joke of a franchise, known primarily for being the second team in LA that nobody cared about because they had one of the cheapest owners in all of sports. It’s common knowledge that Donald Sterling never thought twice about winning otherwise he would have bought more free agents and actually fired a GM that proved to be as bad as Elgin Baylor was a long time ago.
16 teams make the playoffs each season. That’s like half the league, more than half, actually. Elgin’s teams made it three times in 22 years. They had one winning season in Elgin’s last 16 years and only two under his watch. Baylor’s effing lucky he had a job for 22 years and even luckier if anyone around the office listened to his decision. Screw it, he should have been paying them to rent an office at Staples Center — getting paid six figures was highway robbery. Sure, I’ll listen to arguments that Sterling may have some racial tendencies, but to say he was anything other than generous to Elgin for employing him for 22 years and paying him several hundred thousand dollars a season would be maddening. For Baylor to be suing Sterling under charges of racial and age discrimination is even more maddening. And if things were so bad around the environment and Sterling were a racist, then why would Baylor stick around for so long? Why would he continue to be employed by Sterling for 22 years? That doesn’t sit well with me. As they said at Fark, Baylor better be praying he can find 12 jurors that can’t compute winning percentages otherwise he’s toast. What a joke.
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Baylor is living on another planet. My friends and I have joked for years about how he is a “Teflon man” – nothing sticks to him. Every bad move the Clippers made was Sterling’s fault and every good move was Baylor’s doing. Of course, there were many more bad moves than good moves, but you’ve already discussed the Clippers’ record.
Sterling is notorious for underpaying employees. If Baylor were any good, or well thought of around the league, you would think that someone would have doubled his salary just to have this very good GM working for them. Since nobody ever did, it makes me revisit Baylor’s track record. The conclusion I come to is that the Clippers are guilty – of retaining him for 22 years.
well elgin did get it right in 2008 when he drafted eric gordon who will be an all star its just funny after he got him in that draft they fire baylor