Clippers’ Defection Is Noted

The Southern California Summer Pro League has a new look this season, with the Miami Heat and Senegalese national team competing for the first time. But it also doesn’t have the Clippers, and that has irked some involved with the league.

Andrew Bynum, the Lakers’ first-round draft pick, will make his professional debut tonight at the Pyramid in Long Beach as the league gets underway for the 36th consecutive year, but the Clippers, a longtime mainstay in the league, are playing this year in a two-year-old Las Vegas summer league.

They aren’t the only ones. The Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs are all teams that were in Long Beach last year, but aren’t back this year. All but the Spurs are in the Las Vegas league, which expanded from six teams last year to 16 this year.

“It gets a great turnout here,” Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy said of the Las Vegas league. “Every year with Long Beach it was kind of tough to figure out who was going to be there. This was a more stable situation.”

John Younesi, president and CEO of the Long Beach league, said some bad information got out about his league and that prompted some teams to make a commitment to the Las Vegas league. There are only five NBA teams in Long Beach this summer, down from eight in 2004.

“My sense is that several months ago there was a rumor, a very false rumor, that suggested [our] league was not going to be going forward this year,” Younesi said. “The sense was that if these teams didn’t commit by a certain date, they would be left out.”

Younesi brought Hall of Fame player James Worthy and Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak to a news conference Thursday in a show of his league’s strength. And he used the opportunity to take a jab at the Clippers, who had played in his league for at least 15 years, for leaving their home area for another state.

“The Clippers are alienating their fans,” he said. “They’ve left a void because now their fans won’t be able to see their young players play here.”

Joe Safety, Clipper vice president of communications, responded: “Our obligation to our fans is to prepare our team for competition in the most organized, professional and productive environment possible. That’s why we elected to be part of the Las Vegas summer league.”

Kupchak said he felt a sense of obligation to the hometown Southern California league where the Lakers have played for more than three decades.

“Of course, the Lakers have always had the opportunity to move on and participate in [other] leagues,” Kupchak said. “But to us, there is only one league that makes sense for us to participate in: The one we started 36 years ago in Southern California with our fans. It’s our intention to play in this league for many, many years to come.”

Laker fans will have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the future in the two-week league that features five games a day. Draft picks Ronny Turiaf and Von Wafer will also make their pro debuts tonight, and 2004 draft picks Sasha Vujacic and Marcus Stoddard are also on the roster.

Kupchak said the Lakers think so highly of their young players that Coach Phil Jackson and owner Jerry Buss may make rare appearances during the next two weeks to check on their progress. He warned, however, that fans shouldn’t expect too much right away, especially from Bynum, who is just out of high school and is the youngest player in NBA history.

“Our expectations are not that he will play much if at all his first year, maybe even his second year,” Kupchak said. “That’s just unrealistic.”

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Summer ball

*--* * What: 36th annual Southern California Summer Pro League. * Where: The Pyramid at Long Beach State. * When: Today through July 20 (five games per day: 10:30 a.m., 12:45 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.). * Tickets: Available at the Long Beach State box office, call (562) 985-4949. A single-day ticket is $12, which has access to all five games. * NBA teams participating: Lakers, Memphis, Dallas, Toronto, Miami. * Today’s featured games: Toronto vs. Dallas, 5:15 p.m.; Lakers vs. Memphis, 7:30 p.m.

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