Stanley Lets Off Steam but He’s Really a Softy

One man’s nightmare is another man’s dream.

Clipper center Stanley Roberts again is in trouble with Coach Bill Fitch but Jacques Hay and others call the big guy a pussycat.

“I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of sports figures and I don’t think there’s a more compassionate individual in Los Angeles right now, sportswise or otherwise,” Hay said.

Roberts, 7 feet and more than 300 pounds, was suspended indefinitely by the Clippers for shouting obscenities at Fitch at the end of practice Monday.

He missed most of the past two seasons because of Achilles’ tendon injuries and last week reported overweight to camp at UC Santa Barbara, a constant condition that the team believes has contributed to the tendon problems.

But Hay, who has not talked to Roberts recently, has seen the more gentle side of Roberts.

Hay, owner of Award Winners trophy shop in Northridge and president of the West Valley Hebrew Academy in Woodland Hills, says that Roberts has been extremely generous with his time and money in fund-raising projects organized by Hay and his family.

It started in 1993 when Hay and his son, Joshua, spearheaded a campaign that raised $27,000 over two years to help defray medical costs for John Flowers, a Cal State Northridge basketball recruit from Glendale, Ariz., who lost both legs in a car accident a few days before he was to enroll at the school.

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Roberts heard about Flowers and contacted Hay to offer his help, which led to the Clippers sponsoring a free-throw-shooting contest at halftime of a game with proceeds from each shot made going to Flowers.

“He’s very kind,” Joshua Hay said. “He donated a good amount of money to John.”

Later, Roberts became involved in fund-raising for the academy, a nonprofit school that runs a Jewish summer camp for disabled children. He visited the school several times and impressed the staff and students.

“He has done immeasurable good for our school,” said Yehuda Berdugo, the school’s director of education. “He has donated money for the scholarship fund and he has appeared in various functions without an honorarium.

“He has gone out of his way to assist us in the most honorable way you can imagine.”

Said Hay: “Any time we need anything, he’s always there for us. . . . His heart is as big as his stomach.”