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Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Wednesday, July 09, 2008

We Say: Dave Myers, Tribune sportswriter and copy editor, on the curse of the Los Angeles Clippers

The next time you find yourself bemoaning the terrible misfortune that has unjustly befallen your beloved Brewers, Cubs, or Twins remember it could be worse. You could be a Los Angeles Clippers fan.

As if having to compete with the Lakers for fans in your own hometown wasn’t bad enough, the Clippers have been forced to battle for relevance while shrouded with some of the worst luck in the history of professional sports.

Consider for a moment the kind of success the Clippers have enjoyed with the NBA draft. Benoit Benjamin, Michael Olowokandi, Danny Ferry and the oft-injured Danny Manning are all proud first-round selections of the Clippers. Even when they have been able to correctly identify talented players, they wind up trading them away (see All-Stars Terry Cummings and Tom Chambers) only to watch them flourish elsewhere.

More recently the Clippers endured a catastrophic knee injury to their exciting young point guard Shaun Livingston in 2007. The injury was so severe the doctors treating Livingston actually considered amputating the leg.

And now the Gods of misfortune are writing another chapter in the cruel history that is the Clippers. After signing All-Star and hometown hero Baron Davis the Clippers were delighted with the prospect of a lineup featuring Davis, and a pair of 20-point scorers in Elton Brand and Corey Maggette. The notion of playing with the former Duke standouts was no doubt a big part of Davis’ decision to sign with Los Angeles.

As fate would have it, it now appears Maggette will be playing with the San Antonio Spurs next season while Brand could very well end up in Philadelphia.

Oh, to be a Clippers fan.