Ralph Lawler, Michael Smith say they ‘deeply regret’ offending any fans

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Ralph Lawler opened up the broadcast of the Clippers game Monday night by saying he and broadcast partner Michael Smith ‘deeply regret’ offending any Clippers fans after their end-of-game riff on Memphis center Hamed Haddadi,who is the only Iranian-born player in the NBA, caused a Clippers season-ticket holder to publicly complain last week.

‘I’m Ralph Lawler, along with Mike Smith,’ Lawler said. ‘I want to get something out of the way. Both of us deeply regret anything we might have said that may have offended any good Clipper fan or anybody else in that ball game against Memphis last Wednesday night. We’re glad to put that behind us and we’re glad to be back.’

Lawler then noted that the Clippers had beaten Denver last Friday when Michael Eaves and Don MacLean handled the television duties. Smith said, ‘I guess we missed a darn good game.’

During the Clippers’ pregame show Lawler and Smith did their usual quick comments and Eaves said, ‘Ralph, Michael, it’s always good to see you and I’m looking forward to hearing your call coming up at the bottom of the hour.’

Lawler got in his first ‘bingo,’ his signature call of a three-pointer, with 6:11 left in the first quarter when Minnesota’s Corey Brewer hit a three-pointer. It was a very good ‘bingo’ to hear. Even if it wasn’t a Clipper doing the shooting. Welcome back, Ralph.

-- Diane Pucin

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