'The vibes are immaculate right now': Clippers begin penalty era by playing the spin game

At 10:32 a.m. on Monday morning, coach Ty Lue and interim president of basketball operations Trent Redden entered an Intuit Dome press conference room overflowing with reporters and sat down in a pair of folding chairs behind the podium.

It was Redden who drew the short straw of speaking directly to long-suffering Clippers fans with owner Steve Ballmer suspended from the NBA for a year and top lieutenant Lawrence Frank also serving a suspension. Redden began with a prepared statement apologizing to supporters for not addressing them sooner and pledging to regain their trust.

"Our fans deserved to hear from us before this, and for that we're sorry," Redden said. "We've been listening, though, not just being quiet, but listening to the thoughts, the concerns, and feelings and emotions of our fan base. They mean everything to us. Their pain through this time is real, and we feel it and we hear them. We hope to fulfill our promises to them to build their trust moving forward."