Dunleavy fires back at Sterling for ultimatum Dunleavy counters Sterling
Round 2, and in addition to getting the impression that Elgin Baylor has been technically knocked aside as Clippers general manager, Mike Dunleavy came out swinging, telling Donald Sterling, you want to make a change in coaches, "Be my guest."
"It would be the biggest mistake you ever made," Dunleavy said Tuesday in response to Sterling's win-now-or-else comments made here a day earlier.
"It's his team and he can do whatever he likes . . . but look, you can find any coach you want, bring him in here and run the situation. But I don't think they are going to do as good a job as I do. And that's period."
Dunleavy said he was "shocked" by Sterling's critical remarks, and while Sterling maintained the Clippers "absolutely" can still have a successful season and put it on Dunleavy, the coach said, "Where we are today as far as making the playoffs, nobody in their right mind would bet on that."
For most folks around here, you say Sterling isn't in his right mind, and you're not going to get much of an argument.
But Sterling sounded different Monday, blaming himself for the team's wretched history, and insisting now he will do whatever it takes to put a winner on the court.
To accomplish that, Sterling said, the coach needs to do a better job. The coach, meanwhile, said he has been sabotaged by people in the Clippers organization who have no business making basketball decisions.
"In my humble opinion," Dunleavy said, "yes, that's the situation."
He said the Clippers' present plight was predictable, and so over the summer he worked on a pair of deals the front office nixed -- contending now they would've made the team more competitive.
"You give me the budget," Dunleavy said, "and I'm going to be OK with it. I'm not asking anyone to go to the luxury tax.
"But if we gather information and put deals in place that I think benefit the team and somebody who is not in basketball operations disagrees with it, sorry, you've just taken it out of my hands."
Dunleavy thought he had a deal with Dallas in the summer to trade Corey Maggette, eligible for free agency after this season, for guard Jason Terry. But Sterling, who has said he will not meddle in player personnel but who has always professed a desire to keep Maggette in a Clippers uniform, refused to approve the trade.
Dunleavy also wanted to sign former San Antonio free-agent guard Beno Udrih, but the Clippers' bean counter, Andy Roeser, decided Udrih wasn't worth the money it would take to sign him.
