Ex-Clippers GM Baylor Sues Team, Alleging Employment Discrimination

[duncan228]

Ex-Clippers GM Baylor sues team, alleging employment discrimination (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/basketball/nba/02/12/baylor.clippers.ap/index.html)


The lawsuit maintains that Baylor was "discriminated against and unceremoniously released from his position with the team on account of his age and his race'' and that he was "grossly underpaid during his tenure with the Clippers, never earning more than $350,000 per year, when compared with the compensation scheme for general managers employed by every other team in the NBA.''

[JonG]

Seeing as how he was regularly considered among the most incompetent general managers in pro sports during his tenure, it's safe to say that his firing was related to his performance. The reason he wasn't paid as well as other GM's was because he wasn't worth as much as other GM's and because the Clippers had always been a cheap franchise with an owner who didn't place a great deal of concern on winning.

[TheMACHINE]

Baylor shoulda been happy he wasnt fired way before that after only getting to the playoffs 3 times in 22 years.

[ambchang]

Maybe it's just me, but Baylor doesn't deserve the reputation as a horrible GM as much as he did. Yes, the Clippers were routintely horrible, but it was more due to Sterling's frugality than anything else.

He drafted high every year, but he rarely drafted any stiffs (other than Olowakandi), he made decent trades, it's just that all his players would leave right after their rookie contract is up.

[flipcritic]

I'm not mad at Elgin. Yes, he's one of the greatest to ever play the game. But I can only come to the conclusion that he's senile. *shrugs*

[JonG]

Maybe it's just me, but Baylor doesn't deserve the reputation as a horrible GM as much as he did. Yes, the Clippers were routintely horrible, but it was more due to Sterling's frugality than anything else.

He drafted high every year, but he rarely drafted any stiffs (other than Olowakandi), he made decent trades, it's just that all his players would leave right after their rookie contract is up.
Sterling definitely wasn't the best owner to work under if you wanted to put a winning team on the court, that goes without saying.

But Baylor still wasn't very good. He did make the great draft-day deal to get Brand in 2001, but that's offset by the horrible Olowakandi #1 pick in 1998.

Most of his lottery picks weren't too great:

2005 -- took Yaroslav Korolev #12 ahead of Granger, Warrick, Garcia, McCants.
2004 -- traded away the #2 which would have been Okafor in exchange for #4 and #33 overall. took Livingston #4 ahead of Harris, Iguodala, Deng, Jefferson, Smith, Nelson.
2003 -- took Kaman #6 ahead of West, Jo.Howard, Barbosa, Hinrich, Pietrus, not a bad pick.
2002 -- took Chris Wilcox #8 ahead of Stoudemire, Butler, Prince.
2000 -- took Miles #3 in a weak draft.
1999 -- took Odom #4 ahead of Rip, A.Miller, Marion, Terry, Ak47, Artest, again, not horrible.
1998 -- took Olowakandi #1 ahead of Pierce, Dirk, Carter, Jamison, Bibby.
1996 -- took Lorenzen Wright #7 ahead of Kobe, Nash, Peja, J.O'Neal, Illgauskas.
1995 -- took McDyess #2 ahead of KG, Rasheed, Stackhouse, Finley.
1994 -- took Lamond Murray #7 ahead of E.Jones, Rose, Brian Grant.

[Chieflion]

I don't find anything wrong with his draft choices. Those were safe decisions. You knew those players will produce with the exception of Olowakandi.

[Biggems]

why bring out the race card....that is a huge copout.....especially when you spend over a decade in that position and your success rate is minimal at best.

any other team would have fired him after 5-6 years.