Category: Golden State Warriors

by Jerry Feitelberg

There have been suggestions of forcing Clippers owner Donald Sterling to sell the team and even have the team move back to San Diego or move to Seattle to at least remove the stigma and reminder of any stain of Sterling once this gets settled. The Clippers who turned their warm up jerseys inside out before the start of game four on Sunday’s loss in Oakland out of protest of what Sterling said during a racist exchange with his girlfriend in a April 9th recording.

Further right after the game against the Warriors there was even talk that the Clippers might have packed it in or were lethargic in their effort in the 21 point 118-97 loss because the weight of the controversy weighed heavily on the team. There is also concern that the Clippers with all the publicity surrounding the Sterling controversy may now have trouble even getting out of this first round with the Warriors.

The distraction has impacted the Clippers play and L.A. couldn’t get off the ground since the opening tip on Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum Arena. The fans were riding the Clips more so than usual according to some fans and media who were at the game. The heckling never ceased and to have a game on the road right after the Sterling recordings couldn’t have been worse timing for a team trying to advance in the playoffs.

The loss now ties Los Angeles with Golden State at two a piece with game five going back to L.A. on Tuesday night. “It’s just us, only us we’re all we got” said the Clippers Chris Paul before the team ran out on the floor for the warm ups. The team also graced black wrist bands and black socks.

Ironically Sterling’s wife Rochelle was sitting courtside across from the Clippers bench and did speak with ESPN’s Lisa Salter and said,”I do not condone those statements that you heard. I do not believe them. I am not a racist. I have never been never will be. The team is the most important thing to my family” Meanwhile on local talk stations in Los Angeles there was talk that Clippers fans were going to make their own statement on Tuesday by wearing their Clippers Playoff t-shirts inside out in solidarity with the players in protest over the Sterling comments.

The latest addition of recordings were released regarding conversations between Sterling and his girlfriend V.Stiviano that were not initially released by TMZ but released by Deadspin on Sunday a transcript of that conversation regarding Stiviano telling Sterling that he owned an NBA team mostly made up of African American players:

Stiviano: “Honey, if it makes you happy I’ll move all the black people from Instgram”

Sterling: You said that before you said, ‘I understand’

Stiviano: “I did remove the people that were independently on my Instagram that are black”

Sterling: “Then why did you say that you didn’t. You just said you didn’t remove them.”

Stiviano: “I didn’t remove Matt Kemp and Magic Johnson, but I thought Matt Kemp is mixed and he was ok just like me, he’s whiter and lighter than me, I met his mother”

Sterling: “you think I’m a racist”

Stiviano: “I don’t think your a racist”

Sterling: “yes you do, yes you do”

Stiviano: “I think you, you”

Sterling: “evil heart”

Stiviano: “I don’t think so I think you have an amazing heart, honey, I think the people around you have a poison mind, and have a way of thinking”

Sterling: “it’s the world, you go to Israel the blacks are treated just like dogs”

Stiviano: “so do you have to treat them like that too?”

Sterling: “the white Jews and the black Jews, there’s white Jews and there’s black Jews do you understand”

Stiviano: “are the white Jews less than the black Jews”

Sterling: “150 percent”

Stiviano: “is that right?”

Sterling: “It isn’t a question, we don’t elevate what’s right and wrong, we live in a society we live in a culture. We have to live in that culture”

Stiviano: “Shouldn’t we take a stand for what’s wrong? And be the change difference?”

Sterling: “I don’t want to change the culture because it’s too big”

Stiviano: “you could change yourself”

Sterling “I don’t want to change the culture,because it’s too big, I don’t want to change, if my girl can’t do what I want, I don’t want the girl. I’ll find a girl that will do what I want! Believe me. I thought you were that girl, because I tried to do what you want, but your not that girl, because I tried to do what you want”

Stiviano: “There’s no need to get upset, no need to get”

Sterling: “I just see what I’m living with, what I’m dealing with”

Stiviano: “I’m sorry I didn’t do anything”

Sterling: “You never do anything and do anything wrong”

Stiviano: “But I didn’t do anything”

Sterling: “You upset me, and made me”

Stiviano: “I upset you? You made yourself upset”

Sterling: “No that’s not true, you didn’t start off by saying ‘honey I understand we’re living in a culture”

Stiviano: “because I don’t see your view, I wasn’t raised the way you were raised”

Sterling: “well then if you don’t feel don’t come to my games, Don’t bring black people, and don’t come”

Stiviano: “do you know you have a whole team that is black, that’s plays for you?”

Sterling: “you just, do I know? I support them I give them food, and clothes and cars, and houses. Who gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them? Do I know that I have, who makes the game? Do I make the game or do they make the game? There are 30 owners who create the league?

Stiviano: “I’m not going to bring any black people to the stadium?”

Sterling: “is it easy to say that”

Stiviano: “It’s very easy for you to say that”

Sterling: “It’s very easy for you to say that”

Stiviano: “I would never ask anyone to not bring someone based on race or color or culture, it’s like saying like ‘let’s just persecute and kill all the Jews’

Sterling: “oh it’s the same thing right”

Stiviano: “oh it’s isn’t wrong, wasn’t it wrong then? With the Holocaust? And your Jewish, you understand discrimination?”

Sterling: “Oh its the same thing right”

Former Clippers special assistant coach Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said he heard the recording and said, “I know him and I know his voice, I’m not surprised by this very much” and Stiviano’s lawyers said earlier Sunday that it is Sterling on the recordings.

The Warriors and Clippers continue this playoff series and there will be more after game five on Tuesday night

Jerry Feitelberg does sports commentary on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by Daivd Zizmor

OAKLAND–Given Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s history this is not a surprising development and anyone who knows Sterling’s history as Sterling has had a number of instances with his off color comments and more importantly this is really of more substance than just an off handed comment. Sterling has been sued in the past and lost a number of court cases where he’s been accused of discriminating against his renters of the apartment units that he owns in the housing developments.

Sterling has been accused of and lost in court discrimination cases so if he said something like TMZ reported that he doesn’t want his girlfriend associating with African Americans that’s just a continuation of something that’s he’s been doing for ages. Sterling has shown this in his business practices that he doesn’t like African Americans that he discriminates against them and at least he has no problem doing it.

This whole matter is not a shock, it’s kind of a shock right now that Sterling’s team has become good again, it’s also kind of strange that with the number of African American players in the NBA that that he would say something like that. You have to wonder why anyone whose African American would want to play for him.

Knowing his particular opinions on race and his discrimitory past, the league is expected to come down hard on him over this latest incident, the simple fact is this is not a new development but this is a continuation of an old development it will interesting to see how this moves forward and this is really the first time this came to light in the information, twitter, and facebook age when this kind of information can get around like wild fire and go viral and really impact him.

He would have thought with some of the discrimination cases that he lost in the past that it will come back to haunt him. Soon it will be interesting to see what will happen to him soon. How this incident effects the Warriors and Clippers on Sunday it’s doubtful that it will have any impact. This circus around Sterling will spill over into the Clippers locker room but it’s doubtful at this stage.

The one thing that it might do is in this round of the playoffs against the Warriors if the Clippers end up winning this round it will probably solidify public perception of the team by making the opposing fans that much more vehement in their dislike for the Clippers and it might make the Warriors fans that much more vocal and louder as the Clippers are enemy number one because their affiliated with Sterling.

The morning practice at the Clippers was a zoo of media asking question regarding this story on Saturday and it’s expected to be the same way on Sunday at practice. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin who are the two most prominent African American players in the game and anybody who follows basketball knows that Sterling from time to time might have something to say that is discriminatory that is racist. Players like Paul and Griffin are going to be asked about it in practice and before the game will it be a distraction we’ll find out.

Warriors and Clippers tip off at 12:30pm at Oracle in Oakland for Game four on Sunday

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk radio

By Jeremy Harness

On one hand, the Warriors nearly came back from an 18-point deficit but came up painfully short in Game 3 of this best-of-seven series.

On the other, however, the Los Angeles Clippers appeared to have gotten away with a pair of fouls that went the other way and made the biggest difference as the Warriors fell 98-96 at Oracle Arena Thursday night.

The Warriors struggled shooting the ball for most of the night, but they somehow managed to string together a run late in the fourth quarter to give themselves a great chance to pull out the win.

Stephen Curry hit a pair of highly-contested 3-pointers to bring the Warriors to within a point with 11 seconds left, and when Clippers guard Chris Paul made one of two from the free-throw line, the opportunity was there.

Curry, who scored 16 points to go along with 15 assists while the Clippers were bent on making him a passer, got a slight look at another 3-ball, and Paul shoved his forearm into Curry’s hip as he was in mid-air, which was not called and appeared to play greatly in the shot falling short and sending the Warriors to a 2-1 deficit in the series.

The Clippers also appeared to get away with another foul about 20 seconds earlier, as Blake Griffin, who had 32 points on Thursday on 15-of-25 shooting, drew a foul on Draymond Green, which turned out to be Green’s sixth.

Although Green was clearly moving his feet at the point of contact, Griffin pushed off to knock Green to the floor and draw the whistle.

Early on in the second half, however, it didn’t appear that this kind of finish was possible. The Warriors found themselves down by only three at halftime despite going 1-for-12 from 3-point territory in the first half.

As the Warriors continued to sputter on offense in the second half, the Clippers distanced themselves and eventually grew the lead to 18 points before the home team slowly began to make their charge.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors big dream of having a new arena at Piers 30-32, a hotel and condos built across the street from the piers was scraped on Monday due to the huge public opposition to develop on the waterfront on the Embarcadero due to height concerns by neighborhood residents.

The Warriors who on Monday said their decision to move from Piers 30-32 to Mission Bay was solely because of the costs to build at Piers 30-32 which doubled in the neighborhood of $180 million for construction costs. Within the last month a ballot drive to put a San Francisco initiative Proposition B to stop development on the waterfront due to height concerns had seen well over the minimum amount of petitions to get the initiative on the ballot.

With this in mind the Warriors knew they would be beaten at the ballot box in the upcoming November election and therefore withdrew from the Pier 30-32 plans and announced that they purchased property at the Mission Bay site which is located south of AT&T Park another site that the Warriors were rumored to moving to.

The Mission Bay site which is owned by Saleforce.com will sell to the Warriors, the property was going to be used for UCSF biotech redevelopment but with the new arena city officials and Salesforce who is willing to sell see the project at the location a community benefit, “the mayor recognizes and we recognize that the city is moving south, there are some great advantages for the city in this as well” said Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob.

Former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos and former Board President Aaron Peskin were strong opponents of the Piers 30-32 project because of the height issue are supportive of the Mission Bay project, “this is a historic moment of the people of San Francisco because we have protected our precious bay and waterfront, as well as gained a new hometown basketball team” said Agnos.

The Warriors new arena at Mission Bay is the second Northern California NBA team to confirm a new location for an arena development as the Sacramento Kings will begin building their new arena at the downtown plaza in Sacramento in June which is expected to be ready for the 2016-17 season. The Warriors who last played at the Cow Palace before moving to the Oakland Arena in 1971 is scheduled to have the Mission Bay arena ready by 2018.

Jerry Feitelberg is covering the developments of the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings new arenas for Sportstalk

by George Devine, Sr.
After scoring a close upset in the first game of the Western Conference playoffs, the Warriors lost by a whopping margin of 138-98 to the Clippers at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Coach Mark Jackson had told his team they were not there for a split, but to win two games; it didn’t turn out that way.
Blake Griffin and Stephen Curry both came into the contest with an average of 24 ppg. Griffin exceeded that mark with a total of 35, whereas Curry scored only his typical 24, with 20 of them coming in the third. That would not have been a problem for Golden State had their other high scorers come through; they didn’t. Klay Thompson scored only 7, and committed 4 fouls. It was foul trouble, in fact, that crippled the W’s as it had undone the Clippers in the previous game. And just as the visitors had excelled on defense in the first game, tonight was the home team’s turn to do so.
Los Angeles scored 27 of their points on 26 Golden State turnovers, compared to 13 for the Clippers. The Warriors were 81.5% from the free throw line — normally respectable in the NBA — but the Clips were 91.4%. On three-pointers the Dubs were 21.1% to the Clippers’ 48%; on field goals generally the margin in favor of L.A. was 56.6%-47.4%.
Chris Paul scored 10 points, and added 10 valuable assists for Los Angeles. The Clippers could not be stopped after a 14-4 run at the top of the evening, and were ahead by at least 25 through the second, third and fourth periods. Had this been a CYO game, the “Mercy Rule” would likely have been invoked early on.
The next game in the series will be at Oracle Arena in Oakland on Thursday, April 24.
Notes: According to the San Francisco Chronicle/SF Gate.com, The proposed Warriors’ arena site on the San Francisco waterfront south of the Bay Bridge has been scuttled in favor of a new location in Mission Bay. The new parcel was reportedly purchased from Salesforce.com and the team hopes to have the arena in service for the 2018-19 season.
The change in plans avoids what could have been a costly and contentious ballot fight over the previous site, which raised the hackles of some San Francisco voters. Opponents of the Embarcadero location objected to the height of the proposed building and its effects on traffic, parking and views.

by George Devine, Sr.
The magnitude of the Warriors’109-105 win over the Clippers in the first playoff game can be described by three criteria: First, as KGO-TV’s Mike Shumann has reported, the team that wins the first playoff game goes on to win the series 77% of the time. Second, it was one of those down-to-the-wire finishes that exemplifies the Warriors’ gritty determination, a characteristic that has stood them in good stead all season. Third: they did it without Andrew Bogut.
The third factor may be the most impressive. Bogut is reminiscent of Bill Russell, whose defensive skills almost outweighed his scoring capabilities when he played for the Boston Celtics and, previously, the two-time NCAA championship Dons of the University of San Francisco. Bogut is out with a hip fracture, for an indefinite period. The mere presence of his 7 foot frame on the court is intimidation enough for many an opponent, and with his presence in the paint he prevents more field goals than he scores.
As the game began at Staples Center, Golden State was soon behind by a dozen. But as time went on it became a tight contest. At the half, the score was tied at 52. By the time the final frame was under way, the Warriors led by 11 points, and despite the Clippers’ best efforts the visitors squeaked out the win at the end.
Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry were the workhorses for the Warriors, playing 41:07 and 44:39, respectively. Thompson hit for 22 points and had 7 boards. David Lee had 20 points and 13 rebounds but committed 4 troublesome fouls. Curry had 14 points and 7 valuable assists. Harrison Barnes also scored 14 and had 8 rebounds. Jermaine O’Neal was right behind him with 13.
For Los Angeles, Chris Paul had 28 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists, but committed 6 turnovers. J.J. Redick had 22 points and Blake Griffin 16. DeAndre Jordan scored 11 points and turned the ball over 11 times. In addition to turnovers, the Clippers suffered from foul trouble; the starting lineup totaled 17 penalties. This combined with the fact that Golden State outscored the home team from the charity stripe, 72%-65.7%.
The two teams meet again in Los Angeles on Monday, April 21, with a tipoff time of 7:30 p.m. PDT.

by David Zizmor

LOS ANGELES– The Clippers Blake Griffin has stepped up his game this year in his first few seasons everyone was captivated by his dunking abilities which to be sure Griffin is one of the best dunkers in the game and he won a dunking contest by dunking over a car. One of the things about the NBA is just because your a good dunker doesn’t mean your a good player.

We’ve seen plenty of those guys in those dunk contests do really well with the rest of their careers and certainly with the rest of their basketball games. Griffin was not just about dunking. He kind of had a game that left something to be desired and he wasn’t a strong rebounder and shooter and there was some concern that maybe he’s got into the celebrity of things, he was the dunk winner in Los Angeles and there’s the talk that he just settled a little bit.

What we’ve seen under Clippers head coach Doc Rivers, Griffin has improved his game all around and he’s a better shooter and he’s a better rebounder. he’s just a better player he’s just done a better job of understanding of where he needs to be on the floor. It means as a power forward Griffin can dominate when given the opportunities and Griffin has taken the next step in his game in becoming a true All-Star.

On the other end of the floor with him is Chris Paul which makes up the other tandum of the Clippers the guy who feeds Griffin the ball most of the time. Paul missed about 20 games into the season but this is a guy who we knew was a great player. Paul has already been widely considered as the best point guard in the NBA. He leads the league in assists year in and year out.

Paul is a good defensive player, he can score, he can hit from inside and outside, he’s just a complete package since his days in college that’s why he was the top pick when he came out. The combination of Griffin and Paul is what makes the Clippers one of the best in the NBA. The Clips are number three in the west in terms of records and their playing really well down the stretch towards the end of the season.

San Antonio serves as the number one team but the Clippers are about tied with Oklahoma City even though the Thunder finished ahead of L.A. in the standings. The Clippers are a really good team because Griffin and Paul work so well together and their great floor leaders and their so good at spreading the ball around to their teammates. They distribute the ball and everyone gets involved.

Also Paul can take over a game late when you need someone to take over in crunch time, Paul is the guy who takes the big shot. In a seven game playoff it often comes down to whether you have the right guy at the right moment. The Clippers have some of those guys, their a team in the playoffs but their not necessarily proven we don’t know if they can do it at the right time.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk radio