DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — It's nice to see the Downtown News getting a scoop with their interview of Anschutz Entertainment Group President Tim Leiweke. In the interview Leiweke says that the Clippers might not be back at Staples next year:

We actually would make more money if, instead of having 40 Clippers games, we had five concerts. So, those are some of the decisions we're going to have to make. The Clippers issue is in negotiations now. Their lease is up after this year. And ironically, shockingly, we've got to make a decision as to whether we even want them back. We're not sure.

Today the Times runs a piece quoting the story and I saw a report today on one of the local news shows doing the same thing.

The interesting question to me is where might the Clippers go if Staples doesn't want them back? There was talk of the team playing some games in Anaheim if Kobe had been signed, might this be the development that moves all their games there? It would seem to me that the OC might be good for the Clippers in terms of attendance numbers, with less local competition. I really don't see the team going back to the Sports Arena; it's hard to go back after you've tasted an arena as nice as Staples.