A confidant of three commissioners, he played a major role in negotiations with the players’ union and in league expansion in 1976 to Seattle and Tampa. After a quick visit to the trainer, he calmly made all three free throws. Chances of winning That sound you hear is the Clippers’ championship window slamming shut. In a league where the most troubling chants are often speciously defended as not being homophobic, this slipperiness was unconvincing.