Kalamian Has Been Through Good and Bad

There aren’t too many people still with the Clippers’ organization who were around the last time the team finished a season .500. The only coach left is assistant Rex Kalamian, who has survived five head coaches since the Clippers finished .500 in 1992-93 under then-coach Larry Brown.

“I started on game-night basis only,” Kalamian said. “I did things for the coaching staff. Whatever Larry and [the other assistants] didn’t chart, I would do for them.”

Once Brown left the following season, Kalamian worked a couple different positions while the Clippers have had Bob Weiss, Bill Fitch, Chris Ford and now Jim Todd as head coaches.

Kalamian said this season has been a major disappointment because the team hasn’t come close to playing to its potential.

“It’s been a tough year but I think everyone has learned from it,” Kalamian said. “This has definitely been difficult but things can turn around [in the NBA] very quick.”

Although the Clippers’ losing has been a downer, Kalamian has enjoyed working with children groups before home games. Five times this season, Kalamian has helped conduct 45-minute basketball clinics, including Thursday night before the Clippers’ game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“We just work on some fundamentals, the key is what the kids get from the experience,” he said.

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The Clippers signed power forward Eldrick Bohannon, who completed a 10-day contract on Thursday, to a deal through the 2000-2001 season. Bohannon spent most of the season in the Continental Basketball Assn.