MERCH SNEAK - LA CLIPPER-BRANDED PING PONG PADDLES! Exclusive SbB live look-in at Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy as he immerses himself in preparation for the offseason:

DUNLEAVY A DROP IN THAT BOTTLE: These pics of Mike Dunleavy, courtesy Vin Baker’s busiest bookmark, DrunkAthlete, reminds me of Gilbert Arenas’ 60-point performance against the Lakers this season:

Anna Benson to ESPN.com on what she plans to provide her husband, New York Mets Pitcher Kris Benson, if he wins the top pitching prize in MLB this season: "Whatever sexual favor he wants, or place he wants to go, or party he wants to throw, he’ll get if he wins the Cy Young."

How long before she starts a porn site? Seriously.

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IDIOT BOX-JOCK SOCKED: Wednesday a caustic caller blindsided venerable KNBC-TV sports anchor Fred Roggin in L.A. on Roggin’s KMPC-AM radio show.: "You look like Leona Helmsley on a bad hair day."

Roggin took the cheap shot with good humor, replaying the caller’s comment later in the show. L.A. Clipper Chris Kamen to Roggin on the same show after he was asked what the team would do if coach Mike Dunleavy required the squad to see the male homosexual love story "Brokeback Mountain": "I think everyone would take a fine (and not go)." In other Los Angeles sports radio news, KSPN-AM recently let update man and SbBer Rod Van Hook go. Van Hook is a class act and will most certainly hook up with a local sports radio outlet in short order.

SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY reports the salaries of NBA coaches for the upcoming season:

Top Five: 1) Pat Riley, Heat, $ 8.0M 2) Phil Jackson, Lakers, $ 6.0M 3) Don Nelson, Mavericks, $ 5.1M 4) Larry Brown, Pistons, $ 5.0M 4) Doc Rivers, Magic, $ 5.0M 4) Isiah Thomas, Pacers, $ 5.0M 4) Jeff Van Gundy, Rockets, $ 5.0M Bottom Five: 1) Jeff Bzdelik, Nuggets, $800K 2) Maurice Cheeks, Trail Blazers, $ 1.5M 2) Frank Johnson, Suns, $1.5M 2) Bill Cartwright, Bulls, $ 1.5M 2) Don Chaney, Knicks, $ 1.5M 2) Eric Musselman, Warriors, $1.5M Based on the Heat’s victory total last season (25), the club paid Riles $320K per win last year.

Is $800K enough for Bzdelik to buy a vowel?

Rather ironic to see Cheeks at the bottom of the list considering the obscenely-bloated payroll of the Blazers.

P.S. Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy will pull down $3.3M this season.

Speaking of the draft, the rumor is that Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy has begun assuming some of the player personnel duties long held by all-time great player/not-so-great executive Elgin Baylor who is, as Bill Simmons is fond of pointing out, “a veteran of the lottery process.” The first draft choice of the post-Elgin era? Gawky Russian teenager Yaroslav Korolev. Now perhaps Korolev will turn out to be another Ginobili. But something tells me the Clips will regret not taking Sean May, Gerald Green, or Danny Granger when they had the chance- and they’ll be back in the “lottery process” again in ‘06. Meanwhile, my favorite line of Simmons’ annual draft diary column:

E-mail of the night from Florida reader Frank Kosher: “Was I the only one expecting to hear, ‘With the 27th pick, in the 2005 NBA draft, the Portland Trail Blazers select… Carlton Dotson, from Baylor University.”

Speaking of the draft, the rumor is that Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy has begun assuming some of the player personnel duties long held by all-time great player/not-so-great executive Elgin Baylor who is, as Bill Simmons is fond of pointing out, “a veteran of the lottery process.” The first draft choice of the post-Elgin era? Gawky Russian teenager Yaroslav Korolev. Now perhaps Korolev will turn out to be another Ginobili. But something tells me the Clips will regret not taking Sean May, Gerald Green, or Danny Granger when they had the chance- and they’ll be back in the “lottery process” again in ‘06. Meanwhile, my favorite line of Simmons’ annual draft diary column:

E-mail of the night from Florida reader Frank Kosher: “Was I the only one expecting to hear, ‘With the 27th pick, in the 2005 NBA draft, the Portland Trail Blazers select… Carlton Dotson, from Baylor University.”

It’s no wonder that ESPN is calls itself the "Worldwide Leader." What, with scoops like 50-year-old Mike Dunleavy Sr.’s comeback as a NBA player.

It’s no wonder that ESPN is calls itself the "Worldwide Leader." What, with scoops like 50-year-old Mike Dunleavy Sr.’s comeback as a NBA player.

ESPN’s Ric Bucher tells KSPN-AM in Los Angeles that despite media reports to the contrary, the Mike Dunleavy-to-the-Clippers deal is far from done.

Bucher: "The money’s not nearly enough to get Dunleavy."

Coincidentally, Bucher also reported a nugget Clips fans will love: Donald Sterling made $40M last season as owner of the team.