Bruce Bowen Trashes LA Clippers Organization in wake of Firing
On Thursday, former LA Clippers TV analyst Bruce Bowen answered questions on the Dan Patrick Show about his recent firing.
On Monday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that LA Clippers TV analyst Bruce Bowen would not be returning to the booth. While it was heavily speculated that the reasoning behind the decision was because of Bowen’s comments about Kawhi Leonard, that could not be confirmed until today.
Via phone call, Bowen made the following statements about his recent firing on The Dan Patrick Show:
"“[They said] basically we don’t view your views that way because of your comments of Kawhi Leonard, who does a separate way.So unfortunately, if you’re going to run your organization based on hopes and getting rid of others… Now again if I tore him down and I was disrespectful to him that’s one thing, but that’s not the case. As an analyst I’m supposed to talk about what I see and what I feel for this game that I love. So if you can’t do that, what does that say about your organization?I don’t think I’m that powerful where I would be the reason why someone would not want to go to a team… [players should] listen to the words that are said and receive constructive criticism because that’s my job. If you can’t get free agents in California — in Los Angeles, that is — that has nothing to do with Bruce Bowen. That has more to do with the organization.”"
No official word on Bowen’s comments has come from the LA Clippers yet, and it seems unlikely that the organization will issue one. It may be best for the team to continue distancing themselves from Bowen and stay adamant in their pursuit to acquire Leonard next summer.
That being said, it is hard to ignore everything Bowen said today.
Over the past few years, the Clippers have been moving mountains to distance the organization from its very negative reputation. Steve Ballmer changed the way the team looked from the inside-out, starting by buying the team for a then league-high $2 billion and replacing Donald Sterling. With Doc Rivers’ demotion to head coach and the signing of Jerry West, it seemed the Clippers had finally rid themselves of their so-called curse.
However, that seems to be exactly what Bowen is referring to with his comments. His tone of voice, as well as the way he frames his answers, imply that this has been a long-term issue for the Clippers, and one that may never go away. And while he is correct to a degree, his comments don’t seem to line up with the organization that we know today.
Whether Bowen was right in his evaluation of his importance to the organization, the Clippers aren’t necessarily in the wrong for not wanting to create a hostile environment for Leonard. As Patrick says during the interview, “These kind of comments can only do damage to that possibility”.