Letters to Sports: Curses! Clippers fans are fed up with failure

Say what you will about Russell Westbrook, but at least he plays. The same can’t be said for Kawhi Leonard or Paul George. What good are “superstars” if they don’t play? It’s probably too late, but how about going from “day to day,” to “night after night?”

Roger Kraemer
Brea

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As a long-suffering Clippers fan, my suggestion to ending the “Clippers Curse” as mentioned by Bill Plaschke is: change their name! Are your listening, Steve?

Beverlyn M. Jackson
Rialto

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The Clippers played with great heart and should be commended, but unless and until the Clippers get a rabbi, cantor, reverend, priest, minister, imam, shaman, Buddhist monk, Hindi pujari, Mormon bishop, witch doctor, atheist, astrologist, Hare Krishna, exorcist, and boogie man all gathered preseason on center court intoning “Lift the Curse, Lift the Curse,” no reasonable Clippers fan should have any expectation of the Clippers winning a championship.

Zev Brooks
Coto de Caza

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Wealth disparity is a very real thing in this country, but I did find it funny when Steve Ballmer re-signed Kawhi Leonard to a lucrative contract. Proof that even the rich can be suckers just like the rest of us.

Scott R. Denny
Santa Ana

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Wrong time of the year for the Clippers to have the best bench in basketball: Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.

Ron Ovadia
Irvine

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When I think about the Clippers, I don’t think about them being cursed. I don’t think about Paul George or Kawhi Leonard. I don’t think about Chris Paul or Blake Griffin either. The one name that I will always associate with the Clippers is Donald T. Sterling. And I know that I am not alone.

That’s where Steve Ballmer blew it. As soon as he bought the team, he should have rebranded. The team may be better now, but the mere name “Clippers” will forever be associated with decades of losing and with racism.

It’s time to change the name of a team that has been a historic blight on our city. It’s not too late.

Jim Bendat
Los Angeles

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Kawhi Leonard makes Anthony Davis look like Lou Gehrig in terms of durability.

Paul George, for whom the Clippers gave up 450 draft choices to obtain, gave himself the nickname “Playoff P” even though every single significant statistic of his is worse in the postseason than regular season.

There is a reason one team in the area hangs 17 championship banners while the other covers up those 17 when they play.

Erik Schuman
Fountain Valley

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After being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said, “We have to get back to honoring and respecting the regular season.” Really? How is load management justified then, which supposedly rests your star players for the postseason?

Wayne Muramatsu
Cerritos

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So Paul George and Kawhi Leonard miss the playoffs after being load managed all year to ensure their health for the playoffs. How did that go Clippers brass? Another Clippers debacle for a team that their loyal fans have been waiting on and hoping for the last 30 years.

Mitch Razook
La Quinta

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The biggest Clippers star of them all is coach Tyronn Lue. Despite injuries and underperforming players, Lue kept his cool and gave his team a chance to advance into the playoffs. Lue for MVC (most valuable coach)!

Patrick Kelley
Los Angeles

The Lakers’ MVP for the Memphis series should be Dillon Brooks.

P.J. Gendell
Beverly Hills

How could the Dodgers bring in a dry-as-a-gourd play caller like Stephen Nelson when Joe Davis has other commitments? Nelson has a monotonous, boring delivery with little of interest to keep us Dodger fans tuned in. What happened to the more knowledgeable and enthusiastic Tim Neverett, who covered the preseason games with Rick Monday? Tim had a more folksy style and told stories of interest about the players and their lives. Sometimes you don’t realize what you have until you lose it.

Roy Reel
Culver City

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I respectfully disagree with Jack Harris that the Dodgers’ inability to control the running game was “unforeseen.” The Dodgers have always struggled controlling the running game but it didn’t matter much because stolen bases weren’t a thing. Now they are and the Dodgers are being exposed. Dave Roberts says we have to get better. I want to know what they did in spring training to get better. I still see the high leg kicks and slow deliveries, and average arms behind the plate. Looks like nothing has gotten better. Still the same.

Steve Vicencia
Yorba Linda

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A few days ago, manager Dave Roberts declared, “There’s some things we got to get better at.” I assume he was talking about the hitting, the pitching and the managing.

Ralph S. Brax
Lancaster

I believe it’s time to add a third hat to Shohei Ohtani’s greatness: the team’s closer. Had Ohtani been the Angels’ closer, in addition to designated hitter and starting pitcher, they would be in first place.

Dean Connor
Fontana

I can’t understand why so many of the UCLA basketball players are leaving for the NBA when it’s obvious another year of seasoning is needed. The team does not have a single potential first-round pick on its roster and some won’t even get drafted. Why not stay another year, sharpen their skills, make some NIL money and improve their draft positions?

UCLA stars such as Jaime Jaquez, Tyger Campbell, Amari Bailey and Adem Bona are terrific college players but none except for possibly Jaquez is ready to go pro. They would be favorites to win an NCAA title if some or all stayed.

Allan Kandel
Los Angeles

I see that the first two picks in the NFL draft were quarterbacks who prepped in the CIF Southern Section. Both could be risky moves. I can only think of one quarterback in the past 35 years from the Southern Section who had a significant and lengthy career in the NFL — Carson Palmer. Going back another 30 years I can only think of two more — Pat Haden and Randall Cunningham. Notably, quarterbacks from the Catholic schools, especially Mater Dei, have not panned out in the NFL, with Haden being the exception.

Don Kennard
Fontana

While sitting at home watching the hockey playoffs, the Anaheim players will have learned the following:

First, they will have noticed the general managers of the hockey playoff teams provided their head coaches with players who are disciplined, experienced and team-first. They would have noticed that there are enough highly skilled ex-Ducks in the current playoffs to field a team good enough to make the playoffs.

Second, they will have noticed the head coaches of the playoff teams behave like head coaches. Instead of nurturing and/or providing excuses for poor play or behavior, these playoff head coaches provide support, discipline and leadership to their players.

Russell Beecher
Canyon Lake

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