Norman Stakes a Claim : Clipper Forward, Upset With Talks, Increases Role

The truth about Ken Norman, nicknamed “Snake” in sixth grade for his slithery moves around the basket: He hates them. Ken Norman hates snakes.

At home in suburban Chicago, he cuddles his two attack-trained Rottweilers as if they were kittens.

But having a 6-foot, 35-pound boa draped around him is something else. He cringed through that--showing how far he will go to be a team player--for a commercial to promote Clipper telecasts. However, he did have his three possible co-stars brought out so he could pick his companion for the commercial.

There is another truth about Ken Norman, one of the NBA’s worst free-throw shooters: He used to cringe at that, too.

The 6-foot-8 forward made only 59.5% of his free throws in his first five seasons with the Clippers, poor under any circumstances, but terrible considering Norman had made 49.9% of his field-goal attempts before the 1992-93 season. This season, his free-throw shooting is at 63.8%, up from 53.5% last season.

Another truth about Norman, the Clippers’ most vocal supporter through the down days of 17- and 21-victory seasons, and the player, who despite countless trade rumors, has always said he wants to stay with the franchise: Because of troubled contract negotiations, he is not the spokesman for the glorious future anymore.

That has been the most startling revelation in his sixth season after being the 19th player taken in 1987 draft. He has not only outlasted Reggie Williams and Joe Wolf, both drafted by the Clippers before him that year, but also nearly every other teammate.

Sometime in early February, he is on schedule to break Benoit Benjamin’s team record for games played. That would put him second in franchise history, behind Randy Smith, who spent most of his career with the Buffalo Braves.

But Norman is in the final season of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent July 1.

When contract talks began late last summer, the Clippers said re-signing their starting small forward was a top priority. Both sides said completion of a deal was possible by the start of training camp. That date came and went. Talks broke off, then resumed, then stalled again.

That’s when Norman, previously eager, became irritated. He and agent David Falk stuck to their plan of getting at least a five-year contract and passed on a four-year, $10-million offer.

The next thing they knew, the Clippers pulled that offer from the table. Frustration increased when, Norman claims, one team official attempted a compromise--making it $11 million for four years--but another team official rejected that plan.

“It is true we did not accept that (the $10 million), but we never said we did not want it,” Norman said. “They (the Clippers) re-evaluated (their offer), so of course that tells me there are doubts in their mind. So that changed my thinking.”

For the first time, he spoke of being indifferent about staying with the Clippers. It could have been viewed as saber rattling that is common to negotiations, except:

--This was unusual for Norman, who has always appeared to be the ultimate company man.

--He reacted on the court.

Part of it was the timing. The Clippers were 7-6. Norman had played poorly in losses to Houston and, at home, to Denver. Norman wasn’t happy with his play or the team’s, so he reached for tapes of last season’s playoffs.

He wanted to compare this season’s team to the Clippers who had pushed the Utah Jazz to five games in the playoffs after trailing, two games to none. He saw key contributions from three players not on the current roster--Charles Smith, Doc Rivers and James Edwards. Norman also decided that he had become too tentative in shooting.

The emotion and analysis came together during the Dec. 3 game against Orlando. Although Norman’s offense had been improving, with 15 and 16 points in the previous two games, he had been averaging only 10.7 points and 10 shots. Against the Magic, he had 33 points on 23 attempts to upstage Shaquille O’Neal’s only Sports Arena appearance. Norman then criticized Clipper management during postgame interviews, saying he was trying to score more because his less-glamorous contributions clearly were not appreciated.

“I don’t think it was a motivational tool,” Norman says now. “At that point, I felt they were down on me because my numbers were not up and the team was not doing as well as everyone anticipated us doing. I know I’m a capable scorer. Coaches have always said, ‘Hey, Snake, shoot more. You are one of best shooters on the team, so don’t pass up an easy shot.’

“Then I sat down one night and evaluated the team from this season to last. Charles was gone, James and Doc were gone. That’s a lot of double-figure scoring. I decided maybe we could be a better team if I looked to score more.”

Coach Larry Brown was concerned that one of his players would be aiming for statistics to win a new contract. Norman hasn’t slowed since, averaging 19.1 points and shooting 55.8% during the 14 games of December while maintaining his impressive start in rebounding.

“I think it’s affected him, but maybe not to the degree it would affect most,” Brown said of the contract situation. “I can’t put my finger on it. I just see it on his mind all the time. He talks about it, and if you talk about it, it affects you.”

Norman, despite his comments after the Orlando game, insists he is not concentrating on statistics. His play supports him--the 14.8 shots per game since speaking out are about two more than his career average and the same average as 1990-91. His 52.1% shooting for the season easily leads the Clippers and is tied for 19th in the NBA.

But his biggest contributions are elsewhere. His rebounding has improved from an average of 6.5 for his career to 8.7, very good for a small forward and tied for 22nd in the league. That has been a big lift in compensating for the departure of Smith. And his ability to step up in weight class and guard power forwards has made a difference.

“I had always liked him because he was tough and tried,” Brown said. “That hasn’t changed at all. My appreciation in those areas has only gone up after being with him. He does it every night, he tries every practice. This hasn’t been an easy situation for him, either.

“We’re not a great rebounding team. Charles was our best rebounder and defender up front. We just asked Kenny to be the best all-around player he could be, and that’s what he tries to do. We usually ask him to guard the opponent’s best big man every night.”

On Nov. 27, Norman became the all-time leading scorer in the Clippers’ San Diego and Los Angeles history, although that was the night Chris Jackson’s shot at the buzzer to win for Denver overshadowed everything else. Norman is also among the franchise leaders in minutes, shots attempted and made, and field goal percentage.

But if Norman, 28, has already left his mark on the team history’s books, he is still waiting to see if that impact will continue with the Clippers.

He was recently reminded that he would never have predicted that he might leave the Clippers.

“If you would have said that in September,” he said, “I would have told you, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ ”

And now?

“I don’t know what my future is.”