Baylor Tries to Mold Clippers in His Image : But He May Have to Win Over Front Office Before He Can Get to Fans

Heads turned when Elgin Baylor walked into the gym.

Kids who weren’t even born when Baylor played for the Lakers asked for his autograph.

An old man approached Baylor and said that he’d seen him play in Minneapolis.

None of that is new. Baylor has been the Clippers’ general manager for just six months, but he’s already the club’s most recognizable figure.

By contrast, no one seemed to notice when another club executive, Andy Roeser, entered midway through the Clippers’ season-opening exhibition loss to the Golden State Warriors at Cal Poly Pomona.

Even so, Baylor and Roeser are equals in the Clippers’ new chain of command.

Baylor is executive vice president in charge of basketball operations, and Roeser is executive vice president in charge of business operations.

Carl Scheer, fired as Clipper general manager last April, previously did both jobs, so obviously there is some overlap.

That overlap apparently has caused some problems. Clipper insiders say there have been several skirmishes between Baylor and Roeser over minor issues. “Elgin and Andy have butted heads a couple of times,” one source said.

Roeser and Baylor say, however, that there haven’t been any disagreements and that they work well together.

Alan Rothenberg, Clipper president, wouldn’t comment on any disputes between Baylor and Roeser. “The only thing I know about it is what I read in the Herald,” Rothenberg said.

The Herald Examiner recently ran a story reporting a power struggle between Baylor and Roeser. After it appeared, Roeser reportedly called Sports Editor Rick Arthur of the Herald Examiner and asked to have Ailene Voisin, who covers the Clippers, reassigned.

Some of the alleged disputes in the Clipper front office might have occurred because of the difference in backgrounds of the principals. Baylor is a basketball man, concerned about putting the best team on the floor. Roeser is a businessman whose main concern is the bottom line. He is a financial watchdog for team owner Donald T. Sterling.

Baylor, 52, played for the Lakers from 1958-72 and later coached the New Orleans Jazz from 1974-79. He is a member of the Hall of Fame and is considered one of the greatest forwards to have played in the NBA.

Roeser, 27, has limited experience in pro sports. He started in the Clipper ticket office two years ago and became the club’s chief financial officer last season.

One of Baylor’s main goals has been to eliminate the infighting and controversies that have plagued the team during its stormy past. He said he wants to improve communication between players and management.

“A lot of negative things have been written about the Clipper organization,” Baylor said. ‘I’m striving to give the Clippers a positive image in Los Angeles. I’d like to bring credibility and respectability back.”

Thus, Baylor refused to comment about the club’s inner office politics and his relationship with Roeser.

Asked about his relationship with Baylor, Roeser said: “Elgin and I have the best working relationship two people can have.”

Clipper sources say, though, that Baylor wanted to sign several veteran free agents last summer, but he ran into a roadblock set up by Roeser. Although Coach Don Chaney said they needed a veteran backup point guard and a backup center, the Clippers signed no free agents.

Clipper sources also say Baylor was opposed to the club’s new advertising campaign that mocks supposedly high prices for inferior Laker tickets, implying that Clipper tickets are a better deal.

The sources said that Baylor thought that the money being spent on advertising could have been better spent getting new players. If he does think that, he isn’t saying so publicly. “No comment,” Baylor said. “Advertising is not my department.”

Baylor and Roeser disagreed about paying players meal money during training camp. Roeser balked at giving the players their $39 per diem during the 28-day training period. League rules require that players be given meal money only while they are on the road, but most teams pay players meal money during training camp.

Baylor apparently won that battle. At any rate, the club decided last week to pay meal money.

Roeser also reportedly refused to give rookie guard Dwayne Polee a $500 advance before training camp opened.

Polee, the club’s third-round draft pick--the Clippers didn’t have a No. 1 or No. 2--said he needed the money for transportation to practice.

Roeser reportedly offered Polee two Clipper season tickets in lieu of the $500, said Reggie Turner, Polee’s former agent.

Despite his position--the club refers to him as general manager in its advertising--Baylor has no power to negotiate player contracts. He said that he asked not to be involved in that unless Sterling specifically asked him to step in.

Negotiations are handled by Roeser, Rothenberg and Arn Tellem, general counsel.

Roeser does the routine negotiations. Rothenberg and Tellem handle contracts involving high-salaried players.

Said one agent who has dealt with Roeser: “Negotiating with Andy is like talking to a wall. He’ll give you one figure and he won’t budge from that.”

The Clippers still have three unsigned free agents who haven’t reported--point guard Darnell Valentine, center Ozell Jones and forward Sam Williams.

Rothenberg and Tellem are negotiating with Valentine’s agent, and Roeser is trying to work out deals with Jones and Williams. The New Jersey Nets signed Valentine to an offer sheet at a reported $325,000 a year for three seasons, which the Clippers have said they will match, but Valentine’s agent says Valentine will not play for the Clippers.

Another area of disagreement involves the club’s public relations department. The club’s publicist reports to Roeser, but Baylor has been trying to get publicity under his control.

Scott Carmichael, the Clippers’ publicist for the last two seasons, resigned earlier this year to take a job with the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission.

Roeser interviewed several candidates for the job, but no one was hired. Jack Gallagher, an assistant to Carmichael, has been serving as the public relations director while Roeser continues to interview candidates.

The Clippers have made one major deal during Baylor’s regime.

Guard Derek Smith, the Clippers’ leading scorer for the last two seasons, was traded to the Sacramento Kings in August, along with guard Franklin Edwards and swing man Junior Bridgeman.

Smith, who missed most of last season because of injuries and sickness, vowed never to play for the Clippers again. Baylor said, however, that he might have been able to persuade Smith to re-sign with the team if he had been involved from the start.

Rothenberg and Tellem handled the negotiations with Smith’s agent. Baylor said that he and Coach Don Chaney played an active role in the trade.

“I’m in a position where I’m not a pawn,” Baylor said. “Decisions aren’t made behind my back. It might seem that way but it’s not. Any decisions made are mine, but an owner always has the right to change them.

“Between Chaney and myself we have 40 years of (basketball) experience. The only thing I’m interested in is putting together a good basketball team and winning. I have no ego. Everyone knows who I am. I have no ego, believe me.”

Asked how much input Baylor has with the Clippers, Rothenberg said: “Complete.”

Said Chaney: “I tell (Baylor) what I want and he goes out and and tries to get it, and that’s the way it should be. Because if he gets me what I want and I’m fired then it’s my fault. But if I’m fired because I’m not getting the players I want, then it’s not my fault.”

Still, Chaney is very much aware of the realities of his situation. “He’s not going to get me every player I want,” he said. “That’s the way it goes here.”

Asked about a difference between working under Baylor and Scheer, Chaney said: “It’s a big difference. I’m not going to speak on the difference. But there is a difference. You’re talking about different individuals. One guy was purely the general manager, who was in charge of the financial and the basketball end, and the other guy is just in charge of the basketball.

“Elgin understands what it takes to develop a winning team. He’s a little bit more sympathetic to my needs. And we have similar philosophies.”

Does Baylor have the same clout with the Clippers that General Manager Jerry West has with the Lakers?

Or is Baylor a figurehead who will become the fall guy if the Clippers stumble again this season and miss the playoffs for the 11th consecutive year?

“When we talked about the job, I was not interested in negotiating contracts unless the owner asked me to,” Baylor said. “Does it matter who negotiates the contracts as long as we get the player we want? A lot of times people make a big issue of it. It’s not an issue. It’s a question of whether the player is worth signing, and I determine that.”

Baylor says it’s too early too tell what he has accomplished in his new job.

“We haven’t played one (regular-season) game yet, so we don’t know if the team has improved or not,” he said. “Our short-range goal is to make the playoffs. That’s something we owe the fans. We’d like to have a winning season, but you can have a winning season and not make the playoffs.”

Asked who makes the final decisions in the Clipper office, Baylor said: “Any basketball decision, I make the final decision. When we discuss players or trades or signing, Chaney, Sterling, Alan Rothenberg, we sit down and discuss it. We certainly would like to come to the same conclusion. But if we don’t, I make the final decision. But I would never force a player on Coach Chaney.”

The NBA has changed since Baylor came aboard 28 years ago.

“A lot has to do with money,” he said. “I signed for $20,000 and in 1958 that was a lot of money. That was the most money any rookie ever signed for.

“No one made a million dollars when I played. The $100,000 salaries didn’t start until the 1960s. It was (Bill) Russell, Wilt (Chamberlain) and myself who started it.

“When I started playing, no one had an agent. Management would not talk to agents. There were players who were cut from the team because they brought in an agent to negotiate their contracts. When I retired in ‘71, I made $167,000 and that was a lot of money. If anyone made any more than that it would probably have been Wilt.”