LOS ANGELES -- For years, the Clippers were mostly dreadful, the laughingstocks of the NBA.
Not anymore.
A team once synonymous with losing, mismanagement and ineptitude on every level is now simply one of the league's best.
"I don't want to go back to what it was. I'm just enjoying the moment," said Elgin Baylor, the team's vice president of basketball operations since 1986 who was recently voted Sporting News NBA Executive of the Year.
"That's kind of a blur, to think about the tough days," star forward Elton Brand said. "Everyone is talking about the Clippers. This is great to see."
The Clippers are one win -- dare the words be spoken -- from their first berth in the Western Conference finals. They're tied 3-3 with the Suns entering Game 7 Monday night in Phoenix.
This is the same franchise that entered the season with one winning record since moving to Los Angeles in 1984 -- three years after Donald T. Sterling took over ownership. The Clippers were 572-1,118 in the past 21 seasons and made the playoffs only three times without winning a postseason series.
That's before they went 47-35 this year -- the second-best record in the 36-year history of the franchise -- resulting in their first playoff berth since 1997.
The team's playoff history can be found on page 96 of the media guide.
That's right, one page. And that includes eight seasons in Buffalo and six in San Diego.
The Clippers have gone so wrong in so many ways: They drafted poorly; they passed on free agents who were snapped up elsewhere; they failed to improve themselves through trades.
And there was always the annual rite -- a fancy draft lottery party about this time every year. Guess what? There won't be a party when the lottery is held Tuesday. And there might not be another one for some time. The team that's played in the Lakers' shadow for so many years is now No. 1 in Los Angeles.
"We're a young team, the future looks bright," Baylor said. "It's very gratifying, it's very satisfying. I'm just happy for the people who have been around and the fans that stuck with us."
ReverendJC 
