In the past few weeks, various websites and blogs have been reporting on Blake Griffin’s new girlfriend, a student at USC named Jasmine Shein.

(wrongwrongwrongwrong)

Griffin and Jasmine Shein were first linked by a sports blog called playerseason.com on Dec. 22 of last year with this post:

This is Blake Griffin’s new girlfriend Jasmine Shein. The two met each other in LA, where Jasmine is a student at USC.

All reports tell us that these two actually met on facebook and have been seeing each other in LA for a few months.

The post by the obscure site elicited no reaction across the web. That changed though thanks to a subsequent entry on a notorious sports gossip website. Read more…

After reading today’s Peter Vecsey NEW YORK POST claim that Donald Sterling is considering handing control of the Clippers ship to David Geffen, I made some calls to some well-connected friends in Hollywood.

(Geffen’s boyfriend Lingvall behind mogul’s interest in Clips)

From what I’ve since been told, it turns out that Vecsey is at least in the ballpark. The 66-year-old Geffen does have a passing interest in the Clips. But his own personal interest isn’t what’s motivating a potential investment in the NBA franchise.

Read more…

Ben Bolch of the LOS ANGELES TIMES drops off this gem:

Reporting from Atlanta - Baron Davis called it heartbreaking. Eric Gordon said it was not up to par.

Al Thornton?

“It was a decent trip,” the Clippers forward said Wednesday night at Philips Arena after his team concluded a two-week journey with a 103-97 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. “We could have done a lot better, but it was a decent trip.”

Asked what he meant by “decent,” Thornton fell silent for several seconds.

“What was our record on this trip, anyway?” he inquired.

Informed it was 2-6, Thornton chuckled and said, “I guess not so decent, then. My bad.”

Not mentioned: two of six losses were to the 4-44 Nets and 11-38 Minnesota with the 14-day excursion ultimately resulting in head coach Mike Dunleavy’s ouster.

New interim Clippers coach Kim Hughes reacted to Thornton’s comment today to Andrew Siciliano on KSPN-AM in Los Angeles.

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UPDATE (5:15p ET): Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports that the Clippers are denying they are considering Isiah Thomas for a position with the club.

Shelburne adds: “This feels like story came from Isiah… Can’t see why the Clippers would want to pay $10 mill worth of coach next year.”

ORIGINAL POST: Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com reports Friday:

NBA Hall of Famer and current men’s basketball coach at Florida International University Isiah Thomas has emerged as one of the candidates to run the Los Angeles Clippers.

According to a source close to the situation, the Clippers have reached out to Thomas — who coached the Indiana Pacers and also the New York Knicks — to take over coaching, general manager and president duties.

He would replace Mike Dunleavy, who was relieved of his coaching duties earlier this week but remains the general manager.

Goodman’s report is all the more delightful when you consider that 11 months ago, Dunleavy said on the record that he turned down Thomas’ offer to work for the Clippers for free - in any capacity!

Lisa Dillman of the L.A. TIMES:

Thomas is doing what he can to try to get back into the game, and with his daughter set to attend Loyola Marymount, he offered to work for the Clippers without getting paid because he is still receiving money from the Knicks, Dunleavy said.

“Isiah came to us,” Dunleavy said in a telephone interview Thursday morning. “I wasn’t going to be a jerk and say, ‘I can’t talk to you.’ But there’s no position in the organization for him.”

While Dunleavy may sound like he’s somewhat sympathetic to Thomas, to reveal that Thomas was willing to work for free was clearly a low blow.

Then there’s January, 2008, when Dunleavy slammed Thomas for running the Knicks into the ground.

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The LOS ANGELES TIMES has video of righteous observations from an appropriately smug Phil Jax on the delightful plight of Donald Sterling. (And Clips.)

“I’m of that generation that believed in karma. If you do a good mitzvah, maybe you can eliminate some of those things. Do you think that Sterling’s done enough mitzvahs to eliminate some of those? How about all those other incidents that we have on file?”

Wait, then what would you attribute Sterling’s generous dispensation to this young lady to? Perhaps that anonymous (attempted at least) act of generosity is what gifted the Clips Rumpledstiltskin.

I would say unbelievable but we are talking about the Clippers, so that’s not entirely accurate. From Clippers official website:

After experiencing some discomfort during his recently-accelerated rehabilitation program, Clippers’ forward Blake Griffin was examined Tuesday afternoon by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.

As a result of that examination, it has been determined that the healing in his left patella area has not improved to the expected required level. Griffin will undergo a surgical procedure in the near future, with a recovery prognosis of four to six months.

Just before Christmas Griffin was cleared by doctors to begin rehab.

Sucks, I was really looking forward to seeing him play and help stir up a rivalry with the Lakers here in Los Angeles. (Okay, forgot about Dunleavy.)

The ASSOCIATED PRESS has an accusation against L.A. Clippers announcer Michael Smith that came absolutely out of nowhere:

Smith, 44, and his business partner Bruce Furst, 57, were charged Dec. 21 with felony grand theft, Orange County district attorney spokeswoman Farrah Emami said Wednesday. They also face sentencing enhancements for the amount of losses involved.

According to prosecutors, Smith persuaded his friend, a retired school teacher with an inoperable brain tumor, to put up his paid-off Dana Point home in January 2008 as collateral for a $735,000 loan, so Smith and Furst could develop land in Dana Point. Prosecutors said the pair lied and said the loan was safe and would be 100 percent guaranteed.

Smith and Furst, who both live in Laguna Hills, also failed to deliver as promised the $7,200 monthly mortgage payment the victim now must make on his house, prosecutors said. The victim is expected to lose his home.

Smith’s attorney has since responded to the charges, as Smith did himself upon arraignment today in Orange County Superior Court.

Read more…

Switching gears from the normal “holy cow check out the details on this sports news story hey!” formula. It’s a Friday and we’ve got something different and interesting. None of the details have changed since 1991 - and even then, not materially since 1982. You call it “old news,” we call it “evergreen.” Semantics: good for business, good for you.

(Not seeing it yet? Just wait.)

The guys over at BOTH TEAMS PLAYED HARD recently started a study on ranking the NBA logos from worst to first (hey, it’s the offseason), and we expected to see the Clippers near the bottom. Sure enough, they’re at #26 - but is it warranted?

A fellow ShareBro over at SLC DUNK pointed out to us earlier today (and as BTPH also dutifully noticed) that the Clippers and Lakers had surprisingly similar logos. We looked at them next to each other - as shown above - then shrugged our shoulders and said “eh.” But there’s something to it, as a simple but elegant adjustment will show below the break.

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If there’s one thing an experienced male laptop owner knows, it’s to keep nothing sensitive on the laptop, should it fall into the wrong hands. Sure, that might mean credit cards or something, but since we’re talking about men, we’re talking about porno. The last thing you want is some stranger digging through and finding that really weird porno where nobody’s speaking English and the chicks are more, um, adventuresome.

(Who could imagine that a guy who puts bullets in his hat would get involved with unsavory characters?)

But we digress. A lot. Anyway, the Clippers’ Baron Davis, seen above with the most gangsta of fedoras ever, recently lost his laptop. That’s never a good development. In his police report, among the content of the laptop are “private images” of Baron and his “associates and colleagues.” Would those associates and colleagues be, um, naked women? Could be. Could also be something a little more damaging - even life-threatening.

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• Smoking pot, partying with coeds, choking out assistant coaches - Percy Harvin sure knows how to sell the Florida Gators to recruits.

• Tiger Woods ends the Buick Open with a big bang - from his pants! And like Nike did with the LeBron dunk, the PGA tries to remove all video.

• Beer pong with babies & shotgunning brewskis with toddlers - now that’s good parenting!

• Time to go outside, as the Arena Football League is officially folding.

• Fergie Jenkins recalls the fun traveling with the Cubs during the days of segregation - such has having to sleep at funeral homes & bordellos.

Read more…