Big Bonus, Small Problem

Injured Clipper guard Darnell Valentine went through something of an ordeal trying to cash his bonus check of $410,000 after signing with the club last Friday.

David Falk, Valentine’s agent, said the Clippers gave Valentine a post-dated check. “He (Valentine) went to the bank and asked if there were sufficient funds to cover it and they said no,” Falk said. “Then the teller examined the check and said that it was no good anyway since it was postdated to Saturday. That’s a helluva way to start off on the right foot. We had asked them 10 times to have the check ready. We eventually had the Clippers wire the money to his account.”

Said Valentine: “It happened like that, but I don’t want to be involved in any mudslinging and the Clippers’ dirty laundry. It’s nothing new.”

Asked about the matter, a Clipper spokesman said: “We’ll have no comment.”

Valentine is out for six weeks with a broken hand suffered last Sunday.