Nixon Rejects Clippers’ Offer of $1.5 Million : Guard Claims Team’s Proposal ‘Doesn’t Dignify’ His Standing

Tuesday morning’s unproductive meeting with Clipper executives had just ended and Norm Nixon, flanked by attorney Fred Slaughter and agent Tom Collins, waited silently and glumly for the parking lot attendant to retrieve Nixon’s dark blue Mercedes sedan.

No words were spoken between the men, probably because there was nothing new to say. So, when the car came, Nixon slid behind the wheel and drove off. Another day had passed and Nixon, the Clippers’ unsigned free-agent guard, still was a player without a team.

Later Tuesday afternoon, though, Nixon had a lot to say. In an interview with The Times, Nixon said he won’t accept the Clippers’ offer of $1.5 million over three years because “it doesn’t dignify my standing in the NBA.” Nixon also said the Houston Rockets are still seriously considering tendering him an offer sheet and that Chicago, New York and Philadelphia had called Collins and expressed interest.

“I don’t think there’s anything new,” Nixon said of Tuesday’s meeting at the Century City office of Clipper President Alan Rothenberg. “They offered me $400,000 this year, then $500,000 (next season) and $600,000 (in 1987-88). But that’s not cash I’ll receive during the years of the contract. They want to defer the maximum amount they can (30%).

“It’s killing me to sit out and watch. (But) I’m happy the Clippers are 5-0, and I talk to Don (Coach Chaney) a lot and Marques (Johnson) just left the house. I never expected the negotiations to go this long, but I have to take a stand. I figured I’d miss just a couple exhibition games at the most, but the Clippers just kept delaying negotiations. You’d think there’d be more movement.”

The Clippers’ next move will be made today. Under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, the Clippers can tender a one-year contract for Nixon’s salary last season ($413,000). That gives Nixon only 15 more days to receive an offer sheet. His other options would be to agree to the offer or negotiate a new contract with the Clippers.

Nixon said his next move is to increase efforts to obtain an offer sheet. Houston Rocket officials said they will wait until the Clippers make their minimum offer.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Rothenberg and Clipper General Manager Carl Scheer told Nixon and his representatives that the club would not budge on the amount of deferred money. Nixon said he wants all his salary while he’s playing.

“I deserve the money I’m asking,” Nixon said. “I played too hard for the Clippers not to be offered it. Look at guards around the league. They make a lot more money in cash than what the Clippers are offering me. I just want a respectable offer that will dignify my standing in the league. That’s all.”

Said Scheer Tuesday night: “I was disappointed with today’s meeting, but I go up and down like the Dow Jones. If our offer isn’t structured the way he wants it, well, that’s a matter of debate. But we made him a substantial offer. And any offer sheet within reason Norm gets will be matched by us and we’ll keep him. If it’s one for some outrageous figure, then we’ll talk about it.”

Although Nixon, 30, stopped short of saying negotiations with the Clippers are over, he said signing with and playing for another team would solve his problem. He said he wants to go where he is appreciated.

“The only way to work it out is for me to sign an offer sheet,” Nixon said. “And judging by what the Clippers have said and the stance they’re taking, I don’t see them matching any offer. As this thing has dragged on, I’ve been setting myself up for this. Of course, it bothers me that the Clippers don’t want to pay me what I deserve.

“They have always put me off, trying to delay the situation. I wanted to start working on it last year. Then, after last season, they told me to wait until they finished with Chaney (the hiring of Coach Don Chaney), then Bill (the Bill Walton for Cedric Maxwell trade), and then (first-round pick) Benoit Benjamin. Why am I always put on the back burner?”

Scheer said the Clippers want Nixon, but he said the club will hold firm on its three-year offer and not restructure the deferred payments.

During talks Tuesday, Collins said he compared the Clippers’ offer to the contracts of other NBA guards--cash received, not the deferred payments.

“Rory Sparrow (of the New York Knicks) makes $500,000 in cash a year, and no way he’s on Norm’s ability level,” Collins said. “Vinnie Johnson in Detroit makes $500,000 (actually $491,667, counting an incentive bonus) and even Isiah Thomas makes $550,000 of his ($750,000 a year) contract in cash.”

If Nixon were to accept the Clippers’ contract with a 30% deferral each year, he would earn only $280,000 of the $400,000 for this season, $350,000 of the $500,000 next season and $420,000 of the $600,000 in 1987-88.

“That’s not acceptable,” Nixon said. “I don’t want my money five and 10 years from now.”

Nixon’s previous contract, which he signed in 1979 while playing with the Lakers, paid him $413,000. All but $160,000 was deferred. Obviously, he doesn’t want another contract structured that way.

But Nixon said that even if the Clippers were to pay him $500,000 a year for three years without deferred payments, he would hesitate before signing.

When Nixon read Rothenberg’s comments in Tuesday’s papers that Nixon was close to signing, he reacted angrily. Rothenberg had said that owner Donald T. Sterling had reached an understanding with Nixon by phone Sunday night.

“That’s not true,” Nixon said. “Sterling just tossed those figures out over the phone, and all I said was, ‘That’s in the ballpark.’ I said to do all the negotiations with Tom. I agreed to nothing.

“Of course, this whole thing bothers me. I don’t think I should have missed any games. I’m a player. I should be playing.”

Nixon said he has stayed in shape during his free-agent exile. Once NBA players went to training camp, Nixon practiced informally at UCLA with Bruin players. But when college practice began Oct. 15, Nixon was left to work out mostly on his own.

“It’s tough to stay in shape now,” Nixon said. “Lately, I’ve been working out on my own and even going to aerobics classes. But I’m not getting that up and down the floor running you need. Once I get back, it should only take me a couple of weeks to get back in shape.”

The only problem is, Nixon still has no idea when he will be back and with which team.