LA Clippers Bringing Back Vinny Del Negro Shows Donald Sterling Doesn't Care

As reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Vinny Del Negro will be back to coach the Los Angeles Clippers next season. This seems like a curious choice for a team that desperately needs to keep Chris Paul beyond next year. 

Consensus opinion holds that Vinny Del Negro is not the best option when Jerry Sloan, Phil Jackson and the Van Gundys could be on the market. Most Clipper fans likely want somebody other than the man who shouts at opposing shooters like a child and runs a defense that puts up less resistance than finish line tape. But Clippers owner Donald Sterling is happy to keep his coach on the cheap.

Unfortunately, winning is secondary in Clipperland. 

Winning is nice, but it's never been the historical objective. Donald Sterling moved to Los Angeles and made money from spending very little of it on his team. After all, he took a cheap Staples Center lease that often has the Clippers playing afternoon games away from the spotlight.

Respect is ancillary to profit-making, and Sterling appears to derive a certain kind of sick joy from winning "the game" while not winning the games. Basketball fans want something for the Clippers that their owner simply has no interest in. If winning were his focus, he would not have spent the better part of three decades using his basketball team as a front.

The Clippers are still the Clippers, and they won't stop being that until Sterling is out of the picture. Lob City is a fun distraction, not a path to a brighter future.