[Mr KLC]

Jerry West has returned to Los Angeles, but this time with the Clippers. He left the Golden State Warriors, who are coming off their second NBA title in three years, with West serving as a special advisor for both of those titles.

But according to a USA Today report by Sam Amick, the Clippers had a master plan by bringing West aboard: get LeBron James.

“According to two people with knowledge of the situation, West’s potential ability to improve the Clippers’ chances of landing the Cleveland Cavaliers star in free agency in the summer of 2018 was a significant factor in his hiring and in the willingness of owner Steve Ballmer to pay West between $4 and $5 million annually. The people spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the team’s plans,” Amick wrote.

James is set to hit free agency at the conclusion of the 2018 season, having already returned home to Cleveland and delivered the NBA Championship to the city he craved.

[jjgold]

After 2018 James will not be same player

older
slower
injury prone

you shall see

[IBetYou]

He's the Pat Riley of the West. Good move. Doc Rivers has long had a half dozen coaching ghosts on his bench. What really needs is help in the front office. Bingo!

[Bluehorseshoe]

But they need to get him now. They have other guys on the roster that they have to decide on. Is Chris Paul going to wait??

[Kermit]

They should hire Delonte West to lure Lebron's mom there.

[jjgold]

Nobody's going to want an old man basketball wise

[MUHerd37]

His wife says she wants to live in L.A. full time.

[Bluehorseshoe]

His wife says she wants to live in L.A. full time.

It's so obvious he NEVER wanted to go back to Cleveland. The league got Cleveland their Championship and now it's time to move on.

[tony_come]

Lebroom should join GSW

[teaserpleaser]

After 2018 James will not be same player

older
slower
injury prone

you shall see

He's not Kobe

with th his body

he'll probably still be able to avg a triple double when he's 50

dude is a stud.

Unless of course he gets some kind of knee injury or something.

But as is I don't think so.

[TheMoneyShot]

Lebron probably has one more good year in him. Then body won't be worth a sh#$.

Maybe James knows this? He'll probably go to any team that knows they can win it next year?

[teaserpleaser]

His wife says she wants to live in L.A. full time.

Understandable everything is here ....everything you want Somalian food at 3am gotcha

+ lets be honest Cleveland weather vs LA alone pretty easy choice.

[brooks85]

doesn't make sense for james to leave.

GSW will not be the same team next year plus why play them in the meaningless conference finals when you can play them in the finals.

[Twisted Fate]

Lebron is not leaving... No way he is giving up on his hometown again right? Lol.

[brooks85]

well, now that I think about it lebron does hate gilbert and his wife does enjoy getting high so California would make perfect sense for her.

[YouHave2outs]

lakers starting 5 in 2018

Lebron James
Lonzo Ball
Brandon Ingram
Paul George
Brook Lopez

[eidolon]

Don't do it Lebron!

[Cuse0323]

LeBron will never have the balls to head West.

[brooks85]

yeah, doesn't seem like that would be something he would do solely from a competitive point of view.

Only thing I can think of is he is thinking long term. But again, I don't think GSW are even going to have the same team next year after the lose some guys so moving to the West to just play them in the conference finals seems like a step backwards.

He can ball for years to come even as he gets older so maybe he is thinking about best place to attract talent in the future. Seems like a mistake for sure tho, biggest story of the last 3 finals was irving getting injured in the first one. Ruined it especially since it was so early in the series.

[chico2663]

they just wrote negro go home on his house in los angeles. He isn't going anywhere. The are getting rid of that kardashian loving thompson to bring in paul george. They get another ring because pg is hell of a defensive player. They get a big man and win again

[Mr KLC]

Clippers head coach Doc Rivers will no longer oversee the team’s basketball operations, owner Steve Ballmer tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Wojnarowski, Clippers executive VP of basketball operations Lawrence Frank will assume control of the club’s basketball ops going forward.

Although Rivers will continue to have a “strong voice” in personnel and basketball matters, and will work closely with Frank, he’ll no longer have the title of president of basketball operations, and will instead focus primarily on coaching, as Wojnarowski details. Both Frank and Rivers will report directly to Ballmer. Rivers confirmed his re-assignment and endorsed the decision, as Bill Oram of The So Cal News Group tweets.

“I’ve owned the team for three years now, and I really better understand what an owner’s responsibility is — and it turns out that running a franchise and coaching are two enormous and different jobs,” Ballmer told Wojnarowski. “The notion that one person can fairly focus on them and give them all the attention they need isn’t the case. To be as good as we can be, to be a championship franchise, we need two functioning strong people building teams out beneath them. There needs to be a healthy discussion and debate with two strong, independent minded people.”