Clippers Get Some Bad News

Already thin at center because of the summer departure of Michael Olowokandi, the Clippers fear that first-round draft pick Chris Kaman could be sidelined through next month’s exhibition season because of a back injury, slowing his transition from college basketball’s Mid-American Conference to the NBA.

The 7-foot, 255-pound rookie from Central Michigan, projected as a possible starter for a team that lost three of its starting five over the summer, suffered a herniated disk in his lower back sometime over the summer, a condition that was discovered after he experienced tightness last month.

His status is listed as day to day, but the Clippers declined to speculate publicly as to when the 21-year-old Kaman, the sixth player overall and first center taken in the June draft, might be ready to play.

“I couldn’t give you a date or a time,” General Manager Elgin Baylor said Monday. “It depends on how he’s coming along. It depends on what the doctor and the trainers decide, and how Chris is feeling.”

Training camp opens Saturday at L.A. Southwest College for players with three or fewer years of NBA experience. Full camp starts Tuesday at Palm Desert, three days earlier than the majority of NBA teams because the Clippers open the season at Tokyo. The Clippers’ exhibition season starts Oct. 7, the regular season Oct. 30.

Baylor said team doctor Tony Daly was “very optimistic” that Kaman was “going to be fine.” But, Baylor added, “it’s something you have to watch.”

Back injuries are tricky to gauge, Coach Mike Dunleavy said.

“I know, I’ve got one,” said Dunleavy, whose NBA playing career was cut short because of a back problem. “I’ve got a herniated disk -- I’ve been through what he’s going through -- and it’s bad.

“You’ve got to make sure you’ve got it right before you get back on the court and try to do the things you’ve got to do out here. At that position, the banging that comes into play, you’ve got to be healthy before you can go.”

After averaging 22.4 points and 12 rebounds as a junior at Central Michigan last season, Kaman is considered a possible solution as the Clippers move to fill the void left by Olowokandi’s departure.

Olowokandi, the Clippers’ starting center for five seasons, signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves in July.

With the Clippers trying to plug a “gaping hole” at center, as Dunleavy described it, Kaman was expected to get a long look in camp. Other centers on the roster include the undersized Melvin Ely, who has been projected as the probable starter, 38-year-old Olden Polynice and unproven Wang Zhizhi.

Kaman’s injury puts the rookie in a tough spot, Dunleavy said.

“It’s a setback,” Dunleavy said. “Training camp is very important for the growth of a player because of all the teaching that goes on, all the practices that go on and the fact that you can play eight exhibition games.

“You know we’d play him big minutes and try to find out either, ‘You’re ready to play right now’ -- and most rookies aren’t -- or, if not, ‘What are the things I can work on so I will be ready a couple of months down the road?’ ”

Kaman couldn’t pinpoint when he injured his back. He said it tightened within days of his move last month from Michigan to Southern California.

“It was a lack of core strength and flexibility that got me,” speculated the rookie, who said he knew something wasn’t right when the tightness lingered. He asked to have his back checked out and tests revealed the herniated disk.

Though he has continued to work out, trying to stay in shape, Kaman has not played five-on-five basketball since mid-August -- on orders from the Clippers.

“It would put anybody behind the 8-ball, especially someone coming into his first year and not knowing what to expect,” he said. “I haven’t been able to do anything because they want me to stay away from contact until they know it’s good.

“But I’m pretty happy with where I’m at right now. I’ve improved a lot and hopefully I’ll be able to do some stuff in training camp.”