They’re Pulling Out Money Clips for Charity

The other night the grandkid stayed overnight with us, and you know that TV show, “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” and one of the questions that’s always asked: What sound or noise do you love?

I can’t imagine anything better than waking up to the satisfying sound of the granddaughter just jabbering away to herself in her crib -- and almost loud enough to drown out the snoring wife.

We had some time to talk, of course, and as you know the granddaughter has been a Clipper fan for as long as she has lived.

So I was telling her that Corey Maggette is going to donate $500 to Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA for every Clipper win this season, and she was all smiles.

I was thrilled, because she had just gone through this crying phase, and while I tried to explain to her it’s only the luck of the draw that her father is a Grocery Store Bagger, the only thing that seemed to calm her down was when she hit the bottle.

I told her, though, about going to a Clipper game and running into the Boogeyman, and she’s smart, all right, knowing that I was talking about Donald Sterling, who said if Maggette is going to donate $500 for every win, then so is he.

The granddaughter, also known as the 7-Eleven Kid to commemorate her July 11 birthday and her G.P.’s favorite place to buy coffee, was all smiles when I talked about Sterling. Right now I guess you could say Sterling is one of the most generous people she has ever heard about.

Then I told her about Steve Soboroff, Playa Vista president and responsible for making Staples Center a reality downtown. She looked so cute yawning.

Soboroff said he loves the way Maggette plays, which means he has a good memory because I can’t remember the last time the guy played.

“To honor Maggette, Playa Vista is also going to donate $500 for each win to the children’s hospital,” Soboroff said, which then prompted Marty Adelstein, producer of Fox TV’s “Prison Break” and an agent for clever television writer David E. Kelley, to speak up.

(Adelstein had a wild idea a couple years ago to make a sitcom based on Page 2 and his unusual family and sold the concept to Fox, but right now he’s thrilled it never came off, since Page 2 sometimes is now Page 3 and there’s no way the people who usually watch Fox could have ever figured that one out.)

Adelstein said he’s pledging $200 for every Clipper win to the pediatric cancer ward at Mattel’s, and, collectively, that’s now $1,700 a win.

As you might imagine, I wasn’t surprised with the generosity shown by the team of Maggette/Sterling/Soboroff & Adelstein, especially the way the Clippers have been playing lately. And losing.

Hey, thanks for nothing.

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OK, SO the Clippers had somehow won 14 games before beginning a three-game losing streak and before Saturday’s date with Houston in Staples, which meant the team of Maggette/Sterling/Soboroff & Adelstein had already promised $23,800 to the kids on the cancer ward. (They might not have known their donations were retroactive, but they do now.)

This whole thing began with Maggette suggesting he was blessed to play basketball, a rather remarkable and thoughtful admission by an athlete in this age, and maybe just as remarkable as the Clippers enjoying a winning season -- it happening one time in the last 24 years.

If the Clippers win 50 games this season, something akin to the Bagger getting a real job, the team of Maggette/Sterling/Soboroff & Adelstein -- and Soboroff suggested the M/S/S&A; team might still be growing -- will be handing Mattel’s Dr. Kathleen Sakamoto a check for $85,000.

Now you know why I was at Staples on Saturday, in truth -- preparing a column blistering the poor, inconsistent and horrendous play of Chris Wilcox, making the point that most people in L.A. probably have never heard of the big stiff, but if the Clippers are going to prosper like never before, this big stiff has to get going.

I thought about bringing along the 7-Eleven Kid, and while I realize Clipper PR guy Joe Safety works with pro athletes and has experience with babies, he doesn’t look the sort to have ever changed a diaper. And I certainly wasn’t going there, which gives you a hint how I’d answer that “Inside the Actor’s Studio” question: What turns you off.

When the game began, Wilcox was on the bench, Chris Kaman was at center, and talk about taking up space and contributing nothing. Kaman had four fouls and no points in the first half, and you would have thought he was the one pledging money to the children’s hospital with obvious second thoughts.

Wilcox then came in and dominated. That’s one sentence that has never been written before ... anywhere. Wilcox played more than 31 minutes, and sparked -- yes, sparked -- the Clippers to victory No. 15.

Twice in Clipper history the team failed to win as many games -- all season long.

Obviously, the Clippers, now working in tandem with the team of M/S/S&A;, have something going here. I wonder if they’ll be good for $500 a playoff win.

Now if only we could think of a way of raising funds for those less fortunate and really down on their luck, you know, like the McCourts, who as long as the granddaughter has known them, have been big losers.

I’m sure she’d like the Dodgers to be just as good as the Clippers at some point in her life.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at

t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.