While never neglecting to point out that Corey Maggette played hard and that his work ethic was beyond reproach, Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy nevertheless had long been frustrated by Maggette's style of play. Many people might call it a selfish style or in playground parlance - "I'm going to get mine." Maggette on many an occasion would say to me, "I can score the basketball. That's what I do." Three times, during his Clippers' tenure, he averaged over 20 points per game. Clippers center Chris Kaman said the half-court offense often would get stagnant because Maggette would simply try to barge through defenders to get to the rim. As one Eastern Conference scout told Sports Illustrated.com: "He just puts his head down and goes to the basket. He doesn't even look to pass." It is the primary reason why I believed 100 percent that if Maggette exercised the escape clause in his contract last summer, which he did, the Clippers would not make much effort to re-sign him. They didn't. So, Maggette signed a five-year, $50 million contract with the Golden State Warriors. My sources told me that fomer Clipper forward Elton Brand was so determined not to have a personal friendship ruined with Maggette (the two have been close since they attended Duke together), that Brand did not want to play another year with Maggette, having decided that seven years with the Clippers was enough. Although the Golden State Warriors' free-styling, up-tempo system is more suited for Maggette than the more restrictive Clippers' offensive system is, Maggette already is outside its parameters. When the Warriors played (and lost to) the Boston Celtics recently, Celtics All-Star forward Kevin Garnett uttered very audibly, when leaving the court after the final buzzer, "Way to get your numbers," directing that remark at Maggette.
