Clippers Enjoy Starring Roles

If there was any doubt about the Clippers’ growing image around the league, one only had to notice the people in the MCI Center who wore the team’s logo during Saturday’s all-star events.

“I even had a couple of people promise me at Jam Session that they were true Clipper fans,” said Lamar Odom, who had 12 points and seven rebounds to help lead the Sophomore team to a 121-113 victory over the Rookie team, which included teammates Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson, before 20,374,

“That’s what we are so proud of, having three of us in one all-star game. Hopefully, in a couple of years from now, there will be three of us in the big all-star game.”

Although Odom’s statement may be a little bit of a reach, considering the number of young talented forwards in the Western Conference, it does speak volumes about the Clippers’ future.

Not only were they the only team to have three players in the Rookie Challenge, but the Clippers also had second-year swingman Corey Maggette take part in Saturday night’s slam-dunk contest. Maggette started off well with a power dunk following a forward flip, but he failed to make the finals, where Seattle’s Desmond Mason won in a lackluster competition.

Minnesota’s Wally Szczerbiak was named most valuable player of the rookie-sophomore game after scoring 27 points, including five three-pointers, and grabbing eight rebounds.

“When you can come here and play with all of your peers and have a good time against guys you play against all year, there’s nothing like it,” said Szczerbiak, who made 11 of 13 field goals. “It just worked out great.”

In the 40-minute contest, which featured 34 dunks, Miles was easily the game’s top dunker. He had seven slams and missed two in the second half.

“I was happy to see my boy [Miles] woo the crowd,” Odom said. “He got a chance to show people some of the things he can do.”

Miles, who finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, said he enjoyed the entire experience.

“The dunks don’t mean anything to me, I was trying to show off for the kids in the crowd,” Miles said. “I was trying to show people how we do it.”

In the days leading up to Saturday’s game, Miles and Richardson did a lot of talking to Odom about how they were going to shut him down. But once the game began, hardly any defense was played by anyone.

“The fans didn’t want to see too much of that,” Charlotte guard Baron Davis said.

“At halftime, we decided to cut down their transition baskets,” said Davis, who also finished third in the dunk competition. “They got hot from outside, but that just kept them in the game.”

Richardson was pleased with his effort, leading the Rookie team with 20 points and 14 rebounds, but he finished the game wishing that he could have gone more against Odom.

“L.O. didn’t check me one time because if he did, I would have made sure that I scored,” Richardson said.

“But this was a great game to play in. I was happy for Darius because I see him [dunk on people] all of the time. It just shows what we are all capable of doing.”

Milwaukee’s Ray Allen made 10 baskets in a row to win the three-point shooting contest. Allen finished with 19 points to edge Sacramento’s Peja Stojakovic (17) and Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki (10) in the finals.

In the 2Ball competition, Stojakovic teamed with Ruthie Bolton-Holifield of the WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs to defeat Cleveland’s Trajan Langdon and Eva Nemcova.

Odom summed it up best when he said: “Tonight was a good night for the Clippers.”