‘The vibes are immaculate right now’: Clippers begin penalty era by playing the spin game

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Twenty-six days after an NBA investigation laid bare the Los Angeles Clippers’ scheme to circumvent the salary cap by funneling extra money to Kawhi Leonard, team officials at last faced questions from the media. 

At 10:32 a.m. on Monday morning, coach Ty Lue and interim president of basketball operations Trent Redden entered an Intuit Dome press conference room overflowing with reporters and sat down in a pair of folding chairs behind the podium.  

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It was Redden who drew the short straw of speaking directly to long-suffering Clippers fans with owner Steve Ballmer suspended from the NBA for a year and top lieutenant Lawrence Frank also serving a suspension. Redden began with a prepared statement apologizing to supporters for not addressing them sooner and pledging to regain their trust.

“Our fans deserved to hear from us before this, and for that we’re sorry,” Redden said. “We’ve been listening, though, not just being quiet, but listening to the thoughts, the concerns, and feelings and emotions of our fan base. They mean everything to us. Their pain through this time is real, and we feel it and we hear them. We hope to fulfill our promises to them to build their trust moving forward.”

There isn’t much for Clippers fans to get excited about in the short-term as the team prepares to fly to Maui to begin training camp this week. The Clippers had already disbanded their superstar core and started preparing for a multi-year rebuild even before the NBA fined them $30 million, stripped them of five first-round draft picks and gutted their executive suite.

A run at a play-in spot this season went from unlikely to implausible on Monday when Redden revealed the extent of the injury woes the team is facing. The Clippers are bracing to begin the season without several key players including all-star Brandon Ingram, the centerpiece of their return from the trade that sent Leonard to Toronto. 

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Doctors discovered last May while performing surgery to address a right heel injury that Ingram had a partially torn Achilles tendon. There is no timetable for Ingram’s return, but Redden…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/the-vibes-are-immaculate-right-now-clippers-begin-penalty-era-by-playing-the-spin-game-214927039.html

Author : Jeff Eisenberg

Publish date : 2026-09-28 21:49:00

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