Corey Maggette talks Ralph Lawler, his future, and the state of the LA Clippers

We talked with Corey Maggette about his relationship with Ralph Lawler, his future in broadcasting, and the status of the LA Clippers.

As one Los Angeles broadcaster writes the final chapters of his storied career, another may be starting on his first few.

Corey Maggette, an all-time great player for the LA Clippers, is currently in the midst of his first season as a color analyst for Fox Sports West. Working alongside broadcasting legend Ralph Lawler, Maggette has taken more than a few pointers and has found himself growing comfortable in his new role with the team he spent the bulk of his playing career with.

On Tuesday evening, I got to talking with Maggette about how he’s been enjoying his new post-playing career.

“Honestly, I think it’s been pretty good,” he said. “I think that each game I’m getting better. From a former player’s perspective, even just talking to Ralph, I love to be coached. And as a former player, your coach would tell you things that you need to do better on, or praise you on, and I think Ralph has been in a position where he can actually tell me, ‘Hey Corey, keep working at it if you want to get better.’ It’s funny, just in San Antonio, he said, ‘Hey Corey, you’ve started getting more comfortable on the air and I’m really enjoying working with you.’ That’s coming from a legend in the play-by-play industry. And so it’s good to hear that and to know that I am getting better and I enjoy that part of it.”

Maggette has known Lawler for some time now, dating back to the 2000-2001 NBA season. It was his first with the LA Clippers, and Lawler’s 23rd. Back then, the two didn’t get many chances to have extended conversation, but their relationship has since changed and become more personal.

“Well actually, it’s changed a lot,” Maggette said. “I think as a player, you just get a chance to talk to Ralph in passing. You see him on the plane, you get a chance to chit chat. I think now, the relationship I have with Ralph has really grown. Honestly, I kind of think of him as a grandfather. I get a chance to talk to him, I go to dinner with him on the road, and he really tries to help me be better at my craft and the color analyst position. Honestly, it’s been a blessing and an honor this entire time.”

Not only has Lawler been there to talk with Maggette on the road, but he’s been an enormous help as Maggette learns how to improve at his position. It’s the generous nature we’ve come to expect from Lawler, and his wisdom doesn’t go to waste.

“I will say for Ralph, if there’s stuff that I’m doing wrong, or things I need to get better at, he will call me up on it,” he said. “He’ll say, ‘Hey Corey, that’s not right, you need to do it this way.’ And you know, that’s something my grandfather would do all the time. He’d say, ‘Hey Corey, you can’t do that, but this is something that you can do.’ I think for Ralph, he’s helped me out just by teaching me how to be aware of the camera, to be aware of when to talk during the flow of the game, and to know when it’s his time to talk and when it’s the crowd’s time to respond to a big play. From there, he’s helped show me when it’s my time to assess it and give my opinion on it or praise the actual situation.”

Of course, calling games for the LA Clippers is nothing like playing for them. Over the course of his Clippers career, Maggette was a fringe-All-Star with a game that would’ve fit in nicely in today’s NBA. A physical, 6-6 wing, the swingman posted averages of 17.3 and 5.2 rebounds per game across eight seasons in LA, which included a career-high 22.2 point per game average during the 2004-2005 season.

However, Maggette’s new position does allow for him to see certain aspects of the game that he never saw before, and his new perspective has helped him form relationships with some of LA’s best players during the season.

“I love the game of basketball,” Maggette said. “Basketball is the game that I loved and worked at, that I gave my life to and have given my body to, you know all the surgeries that I had. But also I think the cool thing about it, from a TV perspective now, is I don’t have the pounding on my body, which is cool, but also I get a chance to see the game from a different perspective. As a young player, you don’t always get the things that your coach tells you. And I think now, watching it from a coach’s view, I get to see things that I feel I could’ve been better at. But I also get to let the players know — I have a great relationship with Tobias Harris, where I can actually talk to him during the games and tell him some things that I see.”

More often than not, Maggette says he has players coming up to him and asking him about the things he saw during the game and what they can do to correct them. That isn’t always limited to players, though, as some of LA’s coaching staff have been interactive as well.

“It’s funny because Doc Rivers will come by and say, ‘Was that a foul? Did you see it?’, he said. “Or you’ll have Sam Cassell or Rex Kalamian come over and say some things like, ‘Hey, what did you think?’, or, ‘Hey Corey, we did or didn’t bring it tonight.’ So it’s pretty cool to see it and actually get a chance to talk to the other guys as well.”

One of the biggest things that Maggette has noticed since he was a player in Los Angeles has been the Clippers’ culture change. He specifically cited the Lob City era as being a turning point for the organization, and stated his belief that some of the players from the era should be immortalized in the rafters.

“[Between then and now] There’s a big difference from a win and loss perspective,” Maggette said. “I think the Chris Paul–Blake Griffin–DeAndre Jordan era really propelled the franchise to winning, and I think bringing on Doc as the coach was another huge part of the success. That’s not to say anything bad about Vinny Del Negro, because he was part of that playoff run as well, but I really believe the culture has changed now more so because you had these superstars in the past. Griffin will probably be a Hall of Famer, Chris, DeAndre… their jerseys should definitely be hanging in the rafters one day.”

Yet despite the greatness of LA’s teams of yesterday, Maggette has found a trait in this year’s squad that he feels was absent from those that came before them: Togetherness.

“I think now, this new team is totally different than before,” he said. “I think this team brings more toughness, they’re more defensive-oriented than before, and honestly, they really care about each other. It’s hard in this league, you know sometimes in the NBA you have little cliques, and I’ve been very close to this team and watching closely, and that’s one of the reasons why I go to 90 percent of the practices. I do it so I can read the body language of the players, and I can tell that they really respect each other more than anything. The game of basketball is the game of basketball, but when you really start to respect the players and your peers, you have more success and you have more accountability. You can come to a player and tell them that they aren’t doing something right, and they can respect their opinion and move on with it, and I think this team is really showing that.”

Beyond the team’s ability to stick together and hold each other accountable, Maggette told me about another area where he feels this team has excelled.

“Perseverance,” he said. “Forget about the wins and losses, because you’ll always have those in the game of basketball. But this team does have great perseverance, they have great character, and I really believe that helps. There will be times when the Clippers will be down and somehow find a way to win games. Just think about that San Antonio game, with Danilo Gallinari and Luc Mbah a Moute both out. They found a way to win that game and break out of their funk and then win their next two. They persevere through challenges and they find a way to get through them.”

After that, I took it one step further and asked Maggette about whether he thought the LA Clippers have what it takes to make the playoffs this season. Unsurprisingly, he was confident in what he’s seen thus far, and gave me his prediction.

“It’s a battle in the West,” Maggette said. “You can’t have any letdowns. Just thinking back to Monday’s game, where the team that you’re supposed to beat from a record standpoint, you wish you would’ve got that one. This league is tough, but these players are the best in the world for a reason, and I think that they seem to find a way. I believe they’ll make the playoffs — I’m not sure which position that they’ll be in — but I honestly believe that they can make it this season.”

As the conversation began to wrap up, I stuck to the topic of this year’s team and asked Maggette about his thoughts on Harris and Gallinari’s incredible season together.

The two are LA’s leading scorers, and have been good for just over 40 combined points per game this season. They’ve done so rather efficiently, too, converting roughly 44 percent of their attempts from deep and almost 90 percent from the free throw line. With the All-Star reserves being announced on Thursday night, I asked if he though either had a chance of making the team.

“As quiet as it’s kept, I really believe that Gallinari is having a tremendous year,” he said. “He’s been more of an anchor for this team, and you see what he’s done from the three-point line, career numbers in a lot of categories. At one point this season, he was in the top three or four in the NBA in three-point shooting. For Tobias, then, you look at a guy who turned down $84 million because he believed in himself. And a lot of times, you hear the NBA is really called the National Business Association, because you’ve got to make great business decisions. But also, you have to bet on yourself. And I think that Tobias understood that. Look at his numbers — he can be a guy that can average, for his career, 50 percent shooting from the field, almost 44 from three and 90 from the line. With those numbers alone, for a guy that’s averaging 21 points and is very efficient, he should be considered. It’s tough in the West, but for some reason, I’m betting on Tobias to get it.”

We closed the conversation by talking about his future in broadcasting, and whether he wants to continue with his new career. And although the decision isn’t entirely his, he seemed hopeful that he’d be able to do so.

“I think this part of it now is giving me a chance to figure out if I really want to do it,” Maggette said. “And I think as far as the road standpoint, you know I do have kids and I do want to be around to watch them grow, but also I think it’s a great experience and it’s a great opportunity from the Clippers. Having the respect of the people from the team, from Steve Ballmer and Gillian Zucker, Lawrence Frank and Doc Rivers, but also from Fox, they’re really doing everything that they can to help me be better. I guess for me, if it comes down to if I want to take the job, I would love to take the job. But at the end of the day, this is going to be a decision made by Fox and the Clippers at the end of the year, and we’ll just go from there.”

Maggette takes sincere joy in his new position with the LA Clippers, and if he has his way, it would seem that he’ll be here to stay for quite some time, once again.