Are you one of the millions of Americans who are struggling in today's economy? Do you love to see NBA basketball in person, but just can't afford those high ticket prices? Do you live in Los Angeles? Do you like mangoes? Alright, enough questions. But if you answered yes to two of them, then the Clippers have got you covered. Because they're literally giving away tickets to ther final three pre-season games against the Suns, Blazers, and Nuggets.

The details of the promotion are here, and it goes like this: fill out the simple registration on their website, wait for the confirmation email to come, print it out and take it to the Staples center box office and exchange it for your two free tickets. So yeah, for the minor inconvenience of agreeing to be telemarketed and spammed by the team's salespeople, you're in to see some pre-season hoops for free.

On the flip side, this kind of shows you how bad things are for the Clippers, doesn't it? I mean, literally giving your tickets away in the desperate hope that one trip to a pre-season game will rope someone in as a long term customer? It doesn't work that way, especially with the poor quality of the product they're putting on the floor. Either you're a person who enjoys watching the NBA in person or you're not; if you're in the former category and can afford it, you'll buy tickets (yes, even to see the Clippers). If the team really wants to improve ticket sales, they'll build a perennial winner like, oh , I don't know, the team they share the building with? I think it'll snow on Figueroa St. before we'll ever see a day in our lifetimes where the Lakers are giving away tickets.

When a person leaves a position over a dispute, there is often conflict. Especially when that person has held the position for 22 years.

And when a person works long-term for a struggling organization, things can get a little nutty. Especially when that organization is the Los Angeles Clippers.

The LA Times reports today that a day after Elgin Baylor and the Los Angeles Clippers officially separated from a 22-year relationship, Baylor is considering legal action against the Clippers over how his tenure ended. Apparently one of the key issues may revolve around the fact that, get this, Baylor has been working without a contract since the early 90's, "having been told that one was not necessary."

Oh, boy.

Where to start here? Baylor, despite his living legend status, has often bore the brundt of criticism for the management decisions of the Clippers. And to be working without a contract, regardless of circumstances, is just reckless regarding your financial and legal safety. On the other hand, the Clippers had a General Manager without actually having him under contract. That's equally reckless for your organization. And the fact that this situation seems to have dissolved so quickly and that players were left in the dark about it, that's another black mark.

I have a lot of sympathy for Clippers fans and the organization, being constantly overshadowed by the Lakers. But it's things like this that are the reason there's a well know phase: "Yup, they're the Clippers."

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. Hoops Addict. Blogger tries out for D-League team. Blogger gets injured within 30 minutes. Blogger still gets a good story with great video out of it.

2. ESPN.com, via FD. Bill Simmons puts together a great Elgin Baylor column.

3. Rumors and Rants, via BDL. David West vs. a heckler at an Obama rally.

4. Nothing But Net. Our first "I should have stayed retired" joke from Larry Brown is in the books.

5. True Hoop. Abbott wonders, "If there were another Tim Donaghy, would the NBA catch him?" Terrific analys

6. SLAM. That epic Gilbert Arenas interview you've heard about.

The Knights of the FanHouse Roundtable have assembled to consider the NBA in '08-09. In this dispatch, we discuss the bottom half of the Western Conference. On Thursday, we'll look higher. Be sure to also check out the hub of our NBA Preview activity.

Ziller: I think we all expect Memphis and Oklahoma City to grace the bottom of the standings. Everyone would agree Sacramento's absolute best-case scenario would be challenging for the eighth seed. There are 12 more Western Conference teams. Do they all have legitimate chances to make the playoffs? Which ones have the highest likelihood of joining the troika of suck at the bottom of the West?

Matt Moore:These questions are always hard for me because I always like the bad teams more than the good teams.

Well I for one think that the Grizzlies will be much bett ... sigh. Yeah, thirty wins. Sigh. Some day, Grizz. Some day.

Okay, let's get one thing clear. If there was a ten-point scale from stable to complete implosion, the Nuggets are at Spinal Tap. It goes to eleven. Superstar small forward with off-court distractions, expiring contract worth more than most financial firms are now worth in an aging superstar guard, no interior defense and a coach that looks like he just wants it all to end? Yeah, his team is over like snap bracelets. Unless this team gets a significant upgrade at multiple positions off a sucker team wanting AI, this could be an utter disaster.

Interesting times in Clipper-land, these days. The team's newest star is on the Jenny Craig diet plan (no, I won't let it go, but thanks for asking). The team's other new star worked out with them for the first time today after fighting "flu-like symptoms." First round draft pick Eric Gordon is sidelined for a couple weeks with an ankle injury. And oh yeah, Elgin Baylor appears to no longer be performing his duties as the team's General Manager. Wait, what?

According to the OC Register (via Baller Blogger), Elgin Baylor is out as GM, and the only details we have is that there is a dispute between Baylor and and the Clippers, which Baylor won't speak about because his attorney advised him not to. What we do know is, this has been going on for at least a few weeks, because Baylor wasn't present at the team's practice facility when training camp began, and he was conveniently left out of the club's pre-season media guide -- entirely. No mention or picture of him anywhere.

Baylor has been the Clippers' GM since 1986, and besides being a fixture at the NBA's Draft Lottery proceedings, has done a mostly thankless job over the last 22 years. He did have a few achievements though, including winning the Executive of the Year award in 2006, drafting Chris Kaman, and pulling the trigger on the trade that brought Elton Brand to town. During the offseason though, it was coach Mike Dunleavy who seemed to be the spokesperson for the team's dealings, and sure sounded an awful lot like the real GM while doing so.

It'll be interesting to see what the dispute is all about; hopefully Donald Sterling isn't trying to go all Al Davis on Baylor after 22 years of service.

[Image credit: AP Photo/Gus Ruelas]

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Yesterday we had the overview; today we have the predictions. The Pacific Division appears to be no better than a two-team race, with a third team potentially in the mix, and the last two teams, well, finishing in last. Let's start things off in the cellar and work our way up, shall we?

The Los Angeles Clippers (again, regal) are going to have a tough go of it due to the enormous drop off in talent they have between their starting lineup and the players coming off the bench. In fact, if you want a visual of said drop off, go watch this, and pretend the guy jumping off the building is falling in the space between the talent of the Clippers' starting players and that of their bench players. And the parachute not opening represents the gigantic FAIL that the Clippers can expect this season anytime the bench takes the floor to try and hold onto a lead. It's not going to be pretty, folks.

Up north where the Golden State Warriors play, it won't be pretty either, at least for the first few months of the season. That's because their best player (apologies, Mr. Maggette) decided to engage in low-speed moped riding during the off-season (this still amazes me ... the moped = injury part), which will lead to his absence from the lineup, and an unavoidably bad start for the Warriors.

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A season ago, the Pacific Division was able to send just two of its teams to the playoffs, but one of them went all the way to the Finals. And while that's not likely to change this season -- at least the part about the two playoff teams -- each club definitely has its share of intriguing story lines.

Let's start off in Los Angeles, where the Lakers' playoff run last season took place with one of the team's key components on the sidelines. There are always many stories in Laker-land, but a lot of the team's fans seem to be most interested in this one: With the return of Andrew Bynum, do the Lakers have a shot to win 70 games?

Despite the recent flood of positive Andrew Bynum stories hitting the L.A. papers lately (seriously, his P.R. machine is working overtime), I'm not convinced that his addition to the lineup automatically makes the Lakers unstoppable. There's the whole thing about figuring out how to co-exist with Pau Gasol, and how Lamar Odom will perform (likely) playing further away from the basket. When you add in the fact that even if the team was capable of winning 70 games, there's really no motivation to do so, unless someone else is on the same ridiculous pace and it would mean home court advantage.

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Peninsula is Mightier) reports resolution in the odyssey to find Shaun Livingston an NBA home. Livingston will apparently sign a two-year contract with Miami, and expects to play later this season.

If it seems Livingston has received a ton of press considering the low likelihood he'll be a difference-maker this season, it's because he has. But that's all owed to the remarkable potential he showed in spurts through the 2006-07 season with the Clippers. He's young, skilled and dynamic. Why wouldn't folks place a small bet on him? That's what the Heat have done here.

If he can help this year, all the bigger reason for Miami to reel him in. The Heat currently have Chris Quinn, Mario Chalmers and Marcus Banks at the point. Quinn and Banks could be acceptable back-ups and last-string starters. Chalmers is a rookie who might be a very poor man's Mike Bibby someday. None of these guys, at this point, could be starters on a contending team. Livingston doesn't meet that threshold either, but he has the potential to in the near future if he recovers decently. With little on the line, it's a good acquisition. And in few other locales (Golden State, New York) will Livingston have a bigger opportunity to earn minutes than in Miami.

Stories from a trip to Media Day for the Phoenix Suns.

Steve Nash was in good spirits as he sat down for his Q & A session with the media today, and in between some serious basketball talk, the conversation turned to a more lighthearted topic. Nash was asked about the hilarious video he shot with Baron Davis over the summer, and if it was part of his own off-season workout routine. And since the first line of that video refers to Baron's large, um, backside, I asked Steve what he thought about Baron recently going on the Jenny Craig diet plan.

Baron Davis, the newest Jenny Craig celebrity endorser, kicked off his campaign Friday in L.A. The National Lampoon Splog attended and interviewed Boom. At about the 3:20 mark, Davis invites Charles Barkley to the program.



In other fat news, Shaquille O'Neal looks good, by anecdote through the Sacramento Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper. The real chub watch in Phoenix is, of course, on Boris Diaw. Elsewhere in the Pacific, Brad Miller seems like a prime suspect for Chuck Person mode. We'll find out this week.