| | Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Contrary to published reports, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is still an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers, at least for another month.
"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is under contract with the Los Angeles
Clippers as an assistant coach," Joe Safety, the team's vice
president of communications, said Wednesday in a statement. "This
status remains unchanged at this time and no one associated with
the Los Angeles Clippers has informed Kareem of anything to the
contrary."
Safety said news outlets "are the victims of some very bad
information" in their reports that Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's leading
career scorer, had been released.
Harlan J. Weaver, a spokesman for Abdul-Jabbar, verified the
Clippers' statement that he remains on the coaching staff, but
Weaver wouldn't comment further.
The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that Dennis Johnson,
another Clippers assistant coach, said Abdul-Jabbar told him of the
club's decision not to retain him.
Abdul-Jabbar, a six-time league MVP, was a member of one
championship team in Milwaukee and five more with the Los Angeles
Lakers following a standout career at UCLA, where he played on
three NCAA championship teams.
Abdul-Jabbar, 53, joined the Clippers' staff on Feb. 18, signing
a contract through June 30 to serve under under interim coach Jim
Todd. Johnson was hired two weeks earlier -- a day after Chris Ford
was fired as head coach.
The Clippers, whose 15-67 record was the NBA's worst, announced
recently that Todd was not a candidate for the vacant head coaching
job, a position they hope to fill before the NBA draft on June 28.
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