This Baylor-Made Team Might Be Worth Watching

As a player, Elgin Baylor soared like Pegasus. As a general manager, the figure in Greek mythology he most resembles is Sisyphus, the Corinth king doomed in hell to push a rock up a hill only to have it roll back down each time he reaches the summit.

In the early ‘90s, he built a team including Danny Manning, Ron Harper, Ken Norman and Loy Vaught that twice took its first-round playoff opponent to five games before losing. Baylor’s 1997 team had less potential but still made the playoffs.

But each time Baylor had the Clippers climbing, there stood their owner, Donald T. Sterling, to push them back down to the bottom of the Pacific Division.

They won 45 games in 1991-92 and 41 in ‘92-93 and 44 in the next two seasons combined. They won 36 in ‘96-97 and 26 in the next two seasons combined. They won nine last season. I know there were only 50 games instead of 82 because of the lockout, but you win nine games by showing up with your shoes tied.

I’m not saying Sterling is the devil, because this, after all, is only basketball. But if there are some photographs of him around the Clipper offices with horns drawn on, well, I’ll be damned if I try to argue someone out of their beliefs.

Now, in his 14th season as the Clipper general manager, Baylor has begun what could be his best reconstruction job yet.

He drafted Lamar Odom, Maurice Taylor, Michael Olowokandi and Brian Skinner. He signed a couple of ex-CBA players in Tyrone Nesby and Troy Hudson. He traded Lamond Murray for Derek Anderson and Johnny Newman, then traded Newman for Eric Murdock.

If Jerry West had made those moves, we’d be writing about how he’d added to his legend. So if the Clippers make the playoffs this season, and that is not beyond the realm of possibility despite how it looked in in a 104-92 loss Tuesday night to Seattle, it’s time to give Baylor his due. They might not have as much depth as they need, but I can remember seasons when they didn’t have starters.

*

A crowd of 17,847 came Tuesday night to see the two most impressive recent additions to professional sports in Los Angeles--Staples Center and Odom.

One had a better NBA regular-season debut than the other, but give Odom time. He didn’t cost as much as Staples Center.

There were questions about whether Odom, a New Yorker who doesn’t turn 20 until Saturday, was mature enough to adjust to life so far from home. But, fortunately, he has a support group. The Clippers provided him with a roommate, their strength coach, until Odom’s girlfriend and infant daughter, Destiny, joined him in Marina del Rey. His New York agent, Jeffrey Schwartz, who also represents Pete Sampras, sent out an assistant from New York to, I guess, assist.

On the court, it is apparent that Odom can take care of himself. He appeared indecisive early Tuesday night, starting the game wearing a headband and discarding it by the second quarter. But well before the end of the game, he looked as seasoned as anyone on the court, contributing 30 points, 12 rebounds and three assists.

Some have compared him to Magic Johnson, which is probably expecting too much. The Clippers will be satisfied if he proves to be merely the next Dr. J.

*

One positive about Odom is that, thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement, he is locked in with the the Clippers for four years.

That is not the case with Taylor, who remains for now their best player. Under the old agreement, he becomes a free agent after this--his third--season and has vowed not to return because Sterling chose not to extend his contract at the maximum allowable.

Is Taylor worth that kind of money? He’s probably not to most teams, which he will discover after this season unless he has better numbers than he did in his first two. But he is worth it to the Clippers.

Although he’s not an outstanding rebounder for a power forward, he requires double teaming down low because of his scoring.

Equally important, signing him will give the Clippers credibility. Yes, you can buy that in the NBA.

If Sterling signs him, other free agents will know that the Clippers have a new attitude to go along with their new building and will begin thinking of Los Angeles as a two-NBA-team town.

The question is whether that is important to Sterling. Does it matter to him if the Clippers win? He reportedly paid $13 million for the franchise in 1981, but, in reality, Irv Levin agreed to turn them over to Sterling if he would pay $11 million in deferred payments.

Last year, Sterling reportedly turned down between $175 million and $200 million from Disney. In his investment circles, Sterling is a winner, a huge winner. He might be ridiculed at NBA headquarters in New York, but not on Wall Street.

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com