Clippers 'Sever Ties' With GM Mike Dunleavy

Early last month, Mike Dunleavy stepped down as the head coach of the Clippers, but continued in his role of General Manager. On Tuesday, the team decided they no longer wanted him with the organization in any capacity.

Los Angeles and Dunleavy "have severed ties" according to an official release distributed by the team.

The organization has determined that the goal of building a winning team is best served by making this decision at this time. The team has simply not made sufficient progress during Dunleavy’s seven-year tenure. The Clippers want to win now. This transition, in conjunction with a full commitment to dedicate unlimited resources, is designed to accomplish that objective.

Neil Olshey, the current Assistant GM, will takeover Dunleavy's responsibilities.

More reaction and discussion at SB Nation's Clippers blog, Clips Nation.

Well, maybe this was too bad good to be true.

ESPN Los Angeles’ Ramona Shelburne checked with the Clippers about the rumor that they reached out to Isiah Thomas to be their next coach and general manager. The Clippers denied it, reportedly using all caps.

Shelburne tweeted the actual response, then later deleted it, but we got a screenshot. Here it is.

 

Oh well. That was a fun 45 minutes.

When you see the headline “Source: Clippers eyeing Isiah as coach, GM,” you’d figure it was coming from the Onion. Only in a parallel universe would this make any sense.

Remarkably, this headline is not from the Onion, but rather from Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com, a respected college basketball writer. This means that, unless Goodman is pulling a fast one on all of us (which I doubt), the Clippers are actually considering bringing in Isiah Thomas (Isiah Thomas!) to be their newest coach AND general manager.

NBA Hall of Famer and current men’s basketball coach at Florida International University Isiah Thomas has emerged as one of the candidates to run the Los Angeles Clippers.

According to a source close to the situation, the Clippers have reached out to Thomas — who coached the Indiana Pacers and also the New York Knicks — to take over coaching, general manager and president duties.

I’m speechless.

In a surprising move, only because it didn't already happen three or four years ago, Mike Dunleavy officially stepped down as the head coach of the Clippers Thursday afternoon. He is now free to "focus exclusively on the team’s personnel matters," which may or may not be a good thing.

According to the Clippers, the move was a mutual decision made during a meeting earlier in the day. Current Assistant Coach Kim Hughes will takeover, and remain the interim coach for the rest of the season.

In defining the move, Dunleavy said, "I’ve had several conversations with our owner (Donald T. Sterling) concerning what we think is best for the team overall. We have discussed the possibility of my concentrating only on Basketball Operations. That option has always been available to me."

Dunleavy continued, "I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the ideal time for me to direct my efforts toward the many personnel opportunities that lie before us, such as the trade market, the Draft and the free agent process. We fully expect to be active and productive on all those fronts."