Bad Week For Los Angeles Sports

With the baseball season in full swing, free agency starting for hockey and basketball this week was always going to be chock full of news for teams here in Los Angeles.  By the end of the week it looked like this was probably the worst week in sports for the City of Angels since the last week of April in 1992 when the LA Riots forced the Lakers, Kings, and Clippers to move their playoff games and cancelled Dodgers baseball.  For LA this week was as much about what happened on the field as what was happening off of it.

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The week started with news that the Kings had terminated the contract of forward Mike Richards.  The speculation around the termination was skipped training workouts by the end of the week the full story had come out.  Richards contract was most likely terminated because he was caught by Canadian Officials at the border while in possession of OxyContin.  This news further advanced the notion that the Kings Front Office was unaware what was going on with their players as forward Jarrett Stoll received probation for his drug arrest in Las Vegas.

The week didn’t get better as Kings defenseman Slava Voynov pleaded no contest to charges of spousal battery meaning he would only serve 90 days.  Los Angeles Times hockey writer Helene Elliot questioned why the Kings terminate one player before he’s charged of a crime but not another after admitting to one.

Sep 28, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings defender Slava Voynov (26) looks up during a break in play against the Anaheim Ducks during the third period at Honda Center. The Los Angeles Kings defeated the Anaheim Ducks with a final score of 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

For LA’s basketball teams this week must have been like my dating life before I got married, just a whole bunch of no.  The Lakers struck out in trying to lure a top free agent as it seemed everybody that was rumored to be on their radar signed with somebody else.

Two meetings with free agent center LaMarcus Aldridge predictably meant he was signing with the San Antonio Spurs exposing the impotent Lakers Front Office as they were rejected by a high valued free agent for the third offseason in a row. The Lakers dysfunctional front office was further reinforced when President Jeannie Buss reiterated that her brother and VP of player personnel Jim Buss would resign if the team was not contending in 3 years.

For the Clippers, this week was going as they were able to bring Paul Pierce back home to LA then their All-Star center DeAndre Jordan decided to spurn them as he signed with Dallas.  Many speculated whether Jordan’s decision had to do with an earlier rumored rift between Clippers star guard Chris Paul and Jordan. Losing Jordan left the Clippers scrambling to fill Jordan’s presence in the middle.

May 17, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) dunks the ball during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets in game seven of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Clippers 113-100 to win the series 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

It wasn’t any fun for the boys of summer either both the Angels and Dodgers poor play boiled over to off field concerns.

In Anaheim a war of words between manager Mike Scioscia, star slugger Albert Pujols and General Manager Jerry Dipoto lead to Dipoto resigning as GM  in a power struggle with Scioscia. The winner as the GM that hired him Bill Stoneman being brought back to get the Angels back to the playoffs as they struggle to stay above .500.

The Dodgers were not without their problems even though they remain in 1st place in a mediocre National League West. An unamed Dodgers player was quoted as saying that trading Puig “would be addition by subtraction,” and the Dodgers starting pitching was hit by the injury bug as back-end starter Carlos Frias was forced to the disabled list with a bad back.

If this week wasn’t the worse for LA sports I can’t tell you what could be worse. There’s plenty of baseball left and the Dodgers and Angels could turn it around soon. The moves the Clippers and Lakers end up making going into the season could end up working out, and the Kings may do what they do every even year and win a Stanley Cup, but the way things went this week…I doubt it.