Richardson Reveals Worth From Afar

In a bitter irony for the Clippers, Kerry Kittles has sat out most of the season, most recently because of a back injury, while a sound and productive Quentin Richardson has helped the Phoenix Suns to the top of the Pacific Division.

Last summer, the Clippers picked up Kittles in a trade with the New Jersey Nets and renounced their rights to Richardson, in part because they believed that Richardson’s back was in worse shape than they had let on.

But Kittles is the one sidelined because of a degenerative disk in his lower back. He has sat out all but 11 of the team’s 54 games because of knee, groin and back injuries, and the Clippers don’t believe he’ll play again this season.

Richardson, meanwhile, has played in all 55 of the Suns’ games after sitting out 17 last season, mostly because of what the Clippers listed as back spasms.

He has averaged 16.1 points and 6.6 rebounds and has made an NBA-high 172 three-point shots, 17 more than the entire Clipper roster before Thursday’s games.

The Clippers, though, have said they have no regrets.

“Everything pointed in the other direction,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “Our medical people cautioned us against Q’s back. Kittles didn’t even know he had a back [injury]. How the world turns.”

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Announcer Ralph Lawler was saluted at halftime for broadcasting 2,000 Clipper games. The club gave him the game ball from his milestone broadcast, Feb. 13 at Toronto, a jersey and a European cruise. Among the guests was Danny Smith, a golf pro at the Vintage Club in Indian Wells and a former Bradley basketball player who gave Lawler his first broadcast interview 45 years ago....The Clippers will not take part in the annual summer league at Long Beach State in July, opting instead for a 16-team league in Las Vegas.