Dailey Joins the Clippers After NBA Says He Must Only Pass the Test of Time

Quintin Dailey is back and, presumably, free of his cocaine habit.

The Clippers can’t be entirely sure of that, however, since they were not allowed to test him for drugs before signing him. Only the league is allowed to test him, and only if he shows cause, such as missing practices, games, team planes and buses, or shows up consistently late.

Dailey, a two-time drug loser who has been out of the National Basketball Assn. since he left the Chicago Bulls last February to enter a drug-treatment center, will make his debut for the Clippers tonight against the Houston Rockets at the Sports Arena.

“It feels good to be back,” Dailey said Monday. “It’s nice that I have the opportunity to play for the Clippers. I’ve got another chance. With all the troubles and mistakes I’ve made, to have another opportunity is fantastic.

“Everything is in the past. I can’t live back then. I got to live from this day on and take it one day at a time.

“I made some mistakes. But I can’t blame it on nobody but Quintin. You have to go through that pain to understand yourself. My thing is to play ball and stay sober and everything else will fall into place.

“I’m lucky to get a job like this. I know what 8 to 5 means. I’m back up there in the NBA and now I can enjoy it instead of throwing it away or giving it away. Sometimes you’ve got to start from the bottom and work your way up.”

The Clippers signed Dailey to an offer sheet Dec. 12 and he became a Clipper last Saturday, when the Bulls declined to match the offer.

He signed a two-year contract that will pay him a reported $75,000 this season.

Gary Bettman, vice president and general counsel of the NBA said that the Clippers could not have tested Dailey before signing him. Team President Alan Rothenberg said: “There’s no need to under the agreement (with the NBA Players Assn.). He visited Dr. Tony Daly over the summer and we satisfied ourselves from talking to him and the people from the rehab center that he’s all right. We have certain rights to test him under the agreement (if Dailey gives indications that he has lapsed back into drug use).”

Dailey practiced with the Clippers for the first time Monday at the Sports Arena.

Dailey said he has not used cocaine since last Feb. 5 and that he is ready to begin his comeback. He was accompanied to practice by his drug-treatment therapist, Rex Fine, an out-patient counselor at the ASAP drug treatment center in Van Nuys.

Dailey, who has twice undergone treatment for drug abuse, has one more chance left under the NBA’s drug policy.

Dailey could be banned from the NBA for life if he has a relapse.

“Everyone knows that this is my last chance,” Dailey said. “I don’t mind getting a test.

“My main thing is to stay clean and play basketball. I’m not the one who tests, I’m the one who gets tested, so I don’t worry about it too much.”

Dailey said the recent drug-related deaths of Len Bias and Don Rogers affected him and that he is willing to speak to youth groups about the evils of drugs.

“It could have been me,” Dailey said. “I just think that I can tell kids that it can kill you and it can damage you physically and mentally. It can make you like a zombie.”

Dailey was released from the hospital last March and moved from Chicago to Los Angeles to continue his rehabilitation program.

“I stayed in L.A. and did a lot of soul searching,” Dailey said. “I went through a lot of pain and found out what the real Quintin Dailey is made of. Now, my first priority is staying sober.

“Rehab is a day-to-day thing. I go when I can. Right now everything is kind of busy. Whenever everything gets crazy, I go there.”

Said Fine: “He is in the after-care phase of his recovery. He’s doing extremely well. Things are positive. He’s made a strong commitment toward doing what he needs to do to stay clean and sober. He’s gone the extra mile to stay involved and do what he needs to do to take care of himself. It’s a 24-hour, day-to-day activity for him.

“It’s been a rough road but he’s hung in there.”

Said Clipper Coach Don Chaney: “We’re only going to test him if his behavior has changed.

“Right now, to be honest with you, I’m not concerned with (Dailey’s past involvement with drugs). I’m approaching this as if his past history is clean. I’m not going to be following him around. I’m going to treat him as if he’s a part of the 12-man roster. Unless he gives me reason to be suspicious, I’m not going to even think about it.”

Chaney thinks Dailey will help the struggling Clippers, who have lost 8 straight games and 20 of their last 21.

“He’s what you call a go-to guy,” Chaney said. “Everyone knows the guy is talented. I’ve lost some games where if he’d been with us I could have given him the ball (in the last minute).

“I don’t know how much he’ll play tomorrow, but once he gets in shape and knows the plays, he’ll be playing. This is the first practice I’ve had with 10 players in almost two months. I felt good today.”

Injured Clipper guard Norm Nixon dropped by practice to get a look at Dailey.

“He can play,” Nixon said of Dailey. “He’s a legitimate pro player who is very explosive. He’ll make some big baskets that will win some games for us.

“Wait until he gets in shape. . . . This is going to be a good team.”

Dailey, 25, averaged 17.9 points in eight games for the Jacksonville Jets of the Continental Basketball Assn. this season before joining the Clippers.

Dailey, who was listed at 6-3 and 180 pounds last season, said he weighs 210 now and would like to lose about 10 pounds.

A four-year NBA veteran, he averaged 16.3 points with the Bulls in 35 games last season and has a 16.4-point career average. He was drafted by the Bulls in the first round from the University of San Francisco in 1982.