Davis is Clippers' rogue element

The Clippers wanted Hollywood, they've got Hollywood.

Seven games into the season, they've got a flamboyant actor staring down a meticulous director in what eventually could become a battle for the big screen.

Whose movie is it, anyway?

Does it belong to Baron Davis, the leading man signed to a $65-million contract this summer in the Clippers' attempt to grab some leftover Lakers glitter?

Or does it belong to Mike Dunleavy, the ruler-tapping boss who believes all that glitters is cold?

Does it belong to Davis, the guard who once took a ragged Golden State Warriors team to the Western Conference semifinals?

Or does it belong to Dunleavy, who once led the ragged Clippers to the same spot?

Davis already has winced at parts of Dunleavy's rigid system, and is openly worrying that the thick playbook weighs heavily on the freelance ability that has made him one of the league's best guards.

Dunleavy has sighed at Davis' wince, and is quietly hoping that his best player will eventually buy into a script he believes will only make Davis better.

Seven games into the season, the Clippers' biggest issue is not with other teams, but between their two most high-profile employees, Davis and Dunleavy trying desperately to figure each other out.

At stake is everything.

"This is either going to be the greatest thing ever, or it's going to be a disaster," said Clippers center Chris Kaman.

In their last game, their season-first victory against Dallas, fans saw some of that greatest thing ever.

Davis, using his creativity to enrich Dunleavy's set plays, had 22 points and 10 assists that included a couple of the first ally-oop dunk passes in Kaman's career.

But, in the same game, fans also saw some of the disaster.

Davis, sometimes rewriting Dunleavy's script to take bail-out heaves early in the clock, needed 19 shots for those 22 points, and clearly didn't run all the plays that were ordered.

Said Davis: "There's definitely a disconnect there. I've never had so many plays in my entire career."

Said Dunleavy: "We're working through it right now."

Said Davis: "I have to figure out how to fit more into his system, and he has to figure out how to relax his grip."

Said Dunleavy: "I'm confident everything will be fine."

So Davis likes to break dance while Dunleavy designs only intricate waltzes, and thus the question of the Clippers' season becomes a singular one: What are they doing together in the first place?