LOS ANGELES — Mike Dunleavy and
the Los Angeles Clippers parted company for good Tuesday, barely a month
after he relinquished his head coaching duties to focus solely on being
general manager.
Now that arrangement is over, with the
team announcing his departure in an e-mailed statement, assistant
general manager Neil Olshey will take over Dunleavy's job.
"The team has simply not made
sufficient progress during Dunleavy's seven-year tenure," the statement
said. "The Clippers want to win now. This transition, in conjunction
with a full commitment to dedicate unlimited resources, is designed to
accomplish that objective."
The Clippers were 12th in the Western
Conference standings with a 25-38 record going into Tuesday night's game
at Orlando.
Dunleavy stepped down as head coach on
Feb. 4, and was replaced by assistant Kim Hughes.
At the time, Dunleavy said, "I
thought, 'It's time for me to give somebody else a shot, you're burnt
out on this.'"
Olshey had been serving as assistant
GM since before the 2008-09 season. Previously, he was director of
player development, assistant coach and director of player personnel.
The team said he played an important
role in several transactions, including deals that brought Marcus Camby,
Rasual Butler, Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw and Drew Gooden to the
Clippers. Olshey also was part of the planning for the team's last four
NBA drafts, including obtaining Blake Griffin as the No. 1 overall pick
last season.
Griffin has missed this season because
of injury.
The move comes with the Clippers
having significant salary cap space in hopes of luring a top free agent
this summer.
In 6 1/2 seasons as coach, Dunleavy
was 215-325, and Los Angeles made the playoffs just once in his tenure, getting within one game of the Western Conference finals in
2006. The Clippers haven't been back to the playoffs since, winning
just 42 games in the past two seasons.
Last month, Dunleavy said, "I wanted
to stay with this organization, see things through, one way or the
other. I would have rather done it as a successful coach, but on the
other hand, I can see ahead. It was going to be a tough struggle all the
way through."