Clippers reconvene, ready to erase memories of that Game 5

The banter was lighthearted again inside the Clippers’ practice facility, months of fretting over a disgraced owner and an excruciating playoff loss giving way to several less weighty topics.

The name “Donald Sterling” was uttered during media day Monday, but it didn’t trigger the pained expressions that had been on players’ faces last spring. Perhaps the fact that Sterling no longer presides over the team he had owned since 1981 had something to do with it.

“We’re going to talk about basketball,” Coach Doc Rivers said, “and that’s going to be really nice.”

Well, not entirely about basketball. Subjects included guard J.J. Redick’s newborn son (“When he first came out,” Redick said, “I thought he was an alien from ‘Prometheus’”), swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts’ short-shorts (“I just feel sexy in these,” he said) and a picture of Blake Griffin’s abdominal muscles in the October issue of GQ.

“They had to oil those up,” Redick insisted.

“I don’t think that’s Photoshopped,” forward Matt Barnes countered. “I think that’s real life.”

The serious stuff starts Tuesday when the Clippers open training camp in Las Vegas, the beginning of what they hope is a nine-month journey to the NBA Finals.

The players reconvened after a busy summer that included more than billionaire Steve Ballmer’s assuming control of the team.

Super sub Jamal Crawford got married, only hours after playing in a midnight pickup game with his Clippers teammates.

Point guard Chris Paul ran his basketball camps and introduced President Obama as part of an initiative to help young members of minorities.

Griffin visited Croatia and worked tirelessly with shooting coach Bob Thate.

Barnes lost 20 pounds after implementing a stricter diet and participating in yoga with a group of older women.

“I’m in there with a [T-shirt] on and tattoos and my shorts,” Barnes recalled, “and these ladies were like ‘Are you lost?’”

Wherever they went, the Clippers couldn’t shake one topic: their epic Game 5 meltdown against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals last spring. Redick said he threw a “pity party” for himself that lasted several weeks.

Paul, whose litany of mistakes in the final minute contributed to the defeat, has said he wanted to hold on to the pain of the moment so he might not have to experience it again.

“Game 5 was horrible,” Paul said Monday. “There’s no secret why we lost Game 5. But I think this year gives us an opportunity to get right back there, and they say history tends to repeat itself; this is one that we hope it doesn’t.”

The Clippers’ core of Paul, Griffin and DeAndre Jordan is entering its fourth season together and its second under Rivers, a familiarity they expect to produce better results than last season’s 57-25 record and appearance in the conference semifinals.

In the off-season the team added free-agent forward-center Spencer Hawes to space the floor with his three-point shooting and point guard Jordan Farmar to offset the departure of Darren Collison.

“I like what we did this summer,” Rivers, who is also the team’s president of basketball operations, said of the moves. “Obviously, I think we all wanted an even better summer — I know I did— but I like our team.”

Every player is expected to be able to participate in the first day of training camp, with Crawford saying a minor foot issue would not stop him.

Ballmer did not make an appearance Tuesday, but his name continually came up. Asked about the former Microsoft chief executive’s impact on his team, Rivers reached into his pocket, pulled out his cellphone and joked, “Hold on, I’ve got to turn off my iPhone.”

Players said they were excited to play for an owner they expect to have a voluble presence from his seat underneath the basket at Staples Center.

“His face gets all red and his hands get all sweaty and from an owner you don’t see that every day,” Barnes said. “I’m sure we’re going to see him jumping up and down instead of just sitting in his seat the whole time. As a player, I love that and it gives me chills to think about it.”

Something else that might give the Clippers chills would be appearing in a first-ever NBA Finals. Of course, to do that they would have to make the conference finals, another first.

They’re not about to get ahead of themselves.

“This year, it’s about the process,” Paul said. “It would be nice if we could just start the playoffs tomorrow, but we’ve got a lot of work to do before that.”