Clippers missing links in chain of command

Where do you start with the disaster, the lack of public awareness and lunacy that is the Clippers these days?

I write that like it's breaking news, and I'm sorry, like "these days" are any different from every other day with these perennial losers.

But in some ways, this is a new one, even for a franchise that ordinarily leads the league in dysfunction.

Why is the team owner, Donald Sterling, no longer talking to the team's coach, Mike Dunleavy?

And now why is the team's PR guy, Joe Safety, refusing to talk to Sterling?

Safety, regularly one of the best PR pros in town, decided Monday it'd be best if Sterling didn't speak, as if Sterling is not capable of making big-boy decisions for himself. I realize there is a punch line there, but I wouldn't want to be accused of piling on.

Safety declined Monday to relay an interview request to Sterling so the owner might explain to the public why he's giving his head coach the brushoff. A pretty basic question.

"I unfortunately won't be able to deliver on your request," Safety said in a written statement, which he handed me. "After very careful review and consideration, I just don't see how it can be of any benefit to engage this matter any further. We have put it behind us. . . ."

What does that mean? Has Sterling, who did not attend Monday night's game against Philadelphia, already decided to fire his coach for insubordination -- so there's no reason to take his calls?

If bygones are bygones, then how come Dunleavy can't get past Sterling's secretary?

What does it say about the team's future when the head coach can't get to the guy with the final say at the trading deadline?

If the Clippers have put this behind them, it's news to Dunleavy, who said Monday "I have not" spoken to Sterling since the silent treatment became public two days ago -- Sterling not taking Dunleavy's calls since they exchanged words in The Times weeks ago.

Something like that becomes public, and the next day you'd think the owner would be on the phone, or yelling down the hallway to the coach to put an end to it all before it becomes any more embarrassing, or revealing. But then maybe Sterling is already finished with Dunleavy.

Safety said he made the decision not to talk to Sterling, and so it seems everyone in this organization decides at one time or another to stop talking to someone.

The Clippers also made it clear they do not want their season-ticket holders talking to Page 2. Oh, go ahead.