Gentry Angrily Halts Workout

Owner Donald Sterling’s huge entourage must have given the Clippers big heads.

Because two days after Sterling had a group of at least 15 kids and adults approach his players for pictures and autographs after the team’s victory over Sacramento on Friday, the Clippers had their worst practice of the season. They were so bad, Coach Alvin Gentry angrily ended the team’s Sunday workout early because he felt they were just wasting his staff’s time.

“We are a very young team,� Gentry said. “There are always things we can work on and always things we can get better at . . . We have played better but the way we can continue to improve is by working hard in practice because you will not stay the same. If we don’t work hard in practice, we will fall right back to where we were.�

Since the All-Star break last month, the Clippers haven’t had too many practices. They have played nine of 12 games on the road and have had five sets of back-to-back games. But the team had Saturday off and Gentry wanted to work his players hard Sunday with a lot of time spent on how to defend pick-and-roll plays, which have given the Clippers trouble all season.

But one hour into the workout, Gentry decided he had seen enough and kicked his team out of the gym at L.A. Southwest College. Many players stuck around and worked with coaches individually or lifted weights, but some players left, including rookies Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson.

“I don’t think they see it as a joke. I just don’t think they understand,� Gentry said. “But we have to keep working with them and make them understand. That’s our job as coaches.�

Lamar Odom did not work out because of a hip injury but he did talk to Miles and Richardson before they left.

“I’m not saying that they made a mistake by leaving, but those guys are young,� said Odom, who expects to play tonight against Denver at Staples Center.

Rookie point guard Keyon Dooling was one of the players who stayed and said he can’t afford to miss practice time.

“I didn’t like the way it ended, in fact, I don’t think anyone did,� said Dooling, who worked on free throws with assistant John Hammond. “I figured I needed to get something out of [Sunday’s practice] with some extra shots.�

Odom said don’t look for the Clippers to have this problem again.

“I’m going to try to make sure,� he said. “The most embarrassing thing is that everyone will know we got kicked out of practice. As a team, we will get over it but sometimes, the perception doesn’t look good.�

TONIGHT

vs. Denver, 7:30

Channel 9

* Site--Staples Center.

* Radio--KXTA (1150).

* Records--Clippers 21-41, Nuggets 30-31.

* Record vs. Nuggets--1-2.

* Update--Gentry said early in the season that Denver was a team the Clippers want to catch up to and a victory tonight would give them a season series split. The Clippers are 8-8 since Feb. 1. Denver forward Antonio McDyess is questionable because of a knee injury he suffered in the Nuggets’ loss at Phoenix on Saturday.

* Tickets--(800) 462-2849.