Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.
--Red (Morgan Freeman) from the Shawshank Redemption
For Clippers fans, there is always hope.
Hope that this time the number one pick stays healthy. Hope that the owner and general manager will make more good calls than bad. Hope that the next coach will be able to pull it all together and make this team blend.
Hope that LeBron James will want to come play for the Clippers.
So much so on the last one that Clipper fans -- led by their superfan Clipper Darrell -- will put on a LeBron James parade on May 27.
The Clippers have the cap space to offer a max deal (something Mike Dunleavy did before being fired as general manager). They have a solid young core of guys like Blake Griffin and Chris Kaman inside to build on. They have an open coaching vacancy so they can appoint whomever LeBron wants as coach (say John Calipari).
On paper, they are a very good destination. Hope is high in Clippers Nation.
Whether an African American player would risk the public relations hit to play for a man (Sterling) who has faced multiple discrimination suits for his apartment buildings is another thing. Whether any star player wants to trust that Sterling will keep spending like he needs to win in the future is another thing. Whether a superstar wants to enter a media market where another team and anther superstar are already established and have won the city is another thing.
But there is hope. There is always hope for the Clippers Nation.
