Le Basketbawl

There are certain actors and actresses that have huge Frickin hits early in their careers and then basically ride those early triumphs fror the rest of their lives. Your Old Pal New York Vinnie was watching “Biography” the other night and this installment was on comedian/actor Eddie Murphy. My Man Murphy was at one time the second funniest man on the Planet second only to the late great Richard Pryor. 

However Eddie has not done stand-up in years and the great movies he made early in his career, “Beverly Hills Cop“, “48 Hours“, “Trading Places” and New York Vinnie’s all time favorite “Coming To America” were all made an awfully long time ago. He has struck gold occasionally like the first “Nutty Professor” and his role in “Dreamgirls” in which he was Frickin killer but those have been the exceptions.

Eddie in New York Vinnie’s opinion just goes through the Frickin motions in most of his recent Frickin movies like “Daddy Day Care“,  “Doctor Doolittle” and my daughter knows the stock market and I am a Frickin Clueless Moron. For what ever the reason Eddie worked real hard to attain success but it almost is like he does not enjoy it; it is sad to see such talent go to waste. However people still go to his movies and the studios keep making them all based on his early success.

New York Vinnie assumes there are most likely people in every profession that have conducted their careers similarly. However because Murphy is in the public spotlight we get to see it played out in front of us. There are also folks like that in Pro Sports both on the field and in management that start off their careers with huge successes yet never come close to matching them again. The lucky ones are the guys who can milk that early good fortune into long and mediocre careers.

Los Angeles Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy is one of the “LUCKIEST ONES” currently coaching in the NBA. Dunleavy his first year as head coach of the L.A. Lakers took his team to the NBA Finals and they lost to the Chicago Bulls. He has never been back since that first year in fact his entire career has really been less than mediocre as he has a career coaching record through Saturday night of  595-695 which is a career average of .461.

Yet Dunleavy still has a job while Byron Scott has just been fired by the New Orleans Hornets and guys like Mark Jackson who truly know the game can not get their first head coaching gig. Nobody ever said life was fair and the three men I just brought up prove that to be true. However according to reports out of Los Angeles Dunleavy’s luck could be running out.

“ESPN.com” is reporting that NBA sources are stating that Clippers owner Donald Sterling may have finally decided to make a coaching change. There have been reports that they would like Dunleavy to retain his job as the team’s General Manager but many say that he would not want just the front office job. Now Donald Sterling is no picnic as he and the Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor may be the worst two owners in the NBA. Sterling has also been known to change his mind frequently so even if these reports are accurate now it does not mean he will feel the same way next week.

The Clippers have some young talent and if they are able to retain their players bringing in a Byron Scott could finally put the team on the right track. They say that a team is an extension of their coach; with the Clippers you have a less than mediocre coach and a less than mediocre team.