He's a Fighter, Guaranteed

By Jerry Crowe

Jan. 10, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

In his eighth NBA season, Rick Brunson is relied upon like never before. Not since his all-conference days at Temple has he been so useful.

Because of injuries suffered by the two players listed ahead of him at his position, he is a Clipper starter, a heady presence at point guard and a major reason the team is at .500 after December for only the fourth time in 21 seasons.

His coach last week called him “nothing short of terrific.”

And yet you could imagine Brunson on Sunday night tossing and turning in his sleep, wondering if his paychecks would stop coming today.

Brunson, 32, is the consummate journeyman, a distinction he holds dear because it connotes perseverance. A veteran of six NBA teams, not to mention two in the Continental Basketball Assn. and one in Australia, he was the only Clipper to start the season with a nonguaranteed contract. Undrafted after a four-year college career, he has never had a guaranteed contract. And so every year he sweats out Jan. 10, which is when NBA contracts become guaranteed for the rest of the season.

“Of course,” he says sharply. “Wouldn’t you sweat it out if you didn’t know your job was guaranteed tomorrow?”

Realistically, though, Brunson had no reason to fret this year.

With Marko Jaric and highly touted rookie Shaun Livingston expected to remain sidelined into next month, the plucky left-hander moved into the starting lineup Dec. 21, when he made three three-point shots in overtime to help the Clippers to a 100-91 victory over the New Orleans Hornets.

As a starter, he has averaged 9.8 points, 7.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 36.2 minutes a game, all about quadruple his career averages. He has made 48% of his three-point shots. Against the Hornets he matched a career high by scoring 18 points, then matched it again in a victory at Denver, again nailing a late three-point shot. He had a career-high 14 assists in a victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Clippers are 5-4 with a starting point guard who before last month had made only 12 NBA starts, an end-of-the-bench guy who was expected to see only spot duty while mostly acting as a mentor to rookies Livingston and Lionel Chalmers.

Where’d they be without him?

“We’d probably be under .500 somewhere,” Coach Mike Dunleavy says. “He’s certainly equaled some victories in there for us, no question about that.

“I think physically he’s tough and mentally he’s tough,” the coach continues, listing Brunson’s defining attributes. “He knows what he’s supposed to do and he does it all. Give him more athletic ability and he could be an elite player.”

Although Brunson was a high school All-American -- he and Chris Webber were co-MVPs of the 1991 McDonald’s All-Star game -- he is not particularly fast or quick, and doesn’t have great spring in his legs. But he’s crafty, able to find seams in a defense to feed passes to open teammates, and he makes clutch shots.

Plus, he’s not afraid of a challenge, which is why he chose to play for a demanding college coach, John Chaney, and why he has lasted in the NBA.

“It’s almost like he has teeth in his stomach,” Chaney says, speaking Sunday from Philadelphia. “He can chew up anything. You can come at him any way you want to and he can chew it up, swallow it and get rid of it.

“He doesn’t let the last play defeat him. If it didn’t come out right, he’s not going to make a deposit in a negative aspect. He’s always been like that.”

Says Brunson, a native of Syracuse, N.Y.: “My coach, my mom, they taught me about life. This is life, a life experience. It’s a cold, cold world out there. There’s nothing guaranteed. You’ve got to fight and keep working every day.

“My mother [Nancy Lanton] got up every morning and went to work and supported five kids with no father in the house, so why should I complain? That’s just the way I look at it. We got up at 5:30 every morning to practice in college; no one was ever late. They didn’t complain, so why should I complain? That’s just how life is built. You’ve got to be tough and go about it.”

Every summer Brunson and his agent, Leon Rose, work the telephones, trying to find the player work. Or, more to the point, an invitation to training camp.

“I never forget this famous quote,” Brunson says. “Every team says it: ‘We’ll stay in touch.’ The only thing I get [upset] about is, you call [general managers], you call coaches, all you want is a call back just to say, ‘Thank you, but no thanks.’ But I’d say 75% of these teams never call back.

“They can’t give you the courtesy to say, ‘No, thank you; you’re not our type of player’? There’s nothing wrong with honesty. Guys respect that. I know where I stand then. Don’t say, ‘We’ll stay in touch,’ then dodge every phone call.”

The Clippers were a good fit for Brunson because he had played for Dunleavy as a rookie with the Trail Blazers eight years ago.

But, of course, there was no guarantee he’d make the team.

Which is why, when the Clippers invited him to camp in Santa Barbara, Brunson packed up his gear and left his wife, Sandra, and their two children, Jalen, 8, and Erica, 3, back home in Cherry Hill, N.J.

“First of all, I never sign in July or August or September,” he says. “I can’t just pick a city and say, ‘Let’s live here,’ and hopefully I’ll sign with that team. The season don’t start till October; school starts in September. It’s a no-brainer.”

But it’s not easy.

For Brunson, the season is like an extended business trip.

“That’s the hardest thing: being away from my kids,” he says. “Last night talking to my daughter, she’s wondering when I’m coming home because she’s getting to the age now where she’s wondering where I’m at.

“My son understands; he’s older. It’s hard for her, but somebody has to provide for them and if this is the way I can do it, I’ve got to do it this way.”

Brunson, though, says he won’t do it this way much longer.

His goal is to play 10 seasons in the NBA, then become a high school coach and guidance counselor, “teaching young boys how to be men.”

Chaney calls him a “genius about this game,” adding, “Ricky’s going to be a fine coach, there’s no question about it. I think that’s where his leanings are, and I think he’d be great.

“No question in my mind if he’d given up the pro game I would have hired him here.... I might even fire somebody to hire him here.”

Brunson has squirreled his money away -- “I couldn’t care less about living in a mansion or driving a Bentley,” he says. “I want my kids to drive Bentleys and live in mansions” -- and says he is prepared for the transition to a 9-to-5 existence.

Of course, he adds with a smile and a wink, his plans could change if an insightful NBA team were to offer a guaranteed deal.

He’s not holding his breath.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The Brunson File

* Age: 32.

* College: Temple.

* Years in NBA/teams: Eight / Portland, New York, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Clippers.

* Assists per turnover: Ranks No. 9 in NBA (3.24).

* Assists per 48 minutes: Ranks No. 5 in NBA (10.2).

* CBA: Averaged 14.2 points in three seasons with Connecticut (1997-98) and Quad City (1996-97).

* After college: Undrafted by the NBA, played with team in Australia (1995-96).

SEASON STATISTICS