LOS ANGELES -- There is a black hard-rubber mallet with a wooden handle set against media guides on the credenza behind the desk in Mike Dunleavy's office, just adjacent to the Clippers locker room. The coach said the hammer is there just because. Maybe as a bookend.
Unless ....
Unless it's the secret behind the dramatic shift in the fortunes of Chris Kaman.
There may be other, more believable reasons, to be sure. The health factor, of course. Kaman played just 56 games in 2007-08 mostly due to a bad back and sprained ankle, then just 31 in 2008-09 with a troublesome left foot. This season, he's appeared in 41 of 47 games in the Clippers' roller-coaster ride. The foot, he reports, is fine.
But, as Dunleavy explains at the hardware store, Kaman isn't simply feeling better. He is playing better, mostly from the shoulders up, with improved decision making and confidence to go with the shooting skills that have always been there.
All that made last Thursday a bad day for the Clippers. Kaman not only lost out in the coaches' vote for Western Conference backup center at All-Star weekend, but lost out to a Laker, Pau Gasol, and to a Laker that doesn't spend most of his time at center at that.
Here, take the other hand and slam that in the door, too.
Beyond the disappointment of a missed chance at positive publicity for the Clippers, beyond the frustration of Kaman being passed over when he has arguably been the best true center in the West, there is the counter that it is impossible to be disappointed or frustrated at anything in his first half. Kaman has played well, played smart and, in the meaningful big-picture development, has played himself back into position as either a dependable part of the Clips' present or, maybe more surprisingly, the long term as a 27-year-old returned to dependability.
Which brings us back to the office of the head coach inside Staples Center.
"His game has progressed," Dunleavy explained. "He's gotten better each year. But the biggest progression he has made is in his decision making. He's always been able to shoot the ball. He has more confidence in his ability to shoot the ball."
How did that happen?
"It was talking. It was drilling," Dunleavy said. "It was, um ..." -- he reaches back for the mallet -- "hammering a couple times. It was a whole process. Chinese water torture. But ultimately he got it."
Kaman's comeback season has led to 20.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 50.1 percent shooting, a constant positive as the Clippers went from the 4-9 start to pushing back into the playoff picture by winning seven of 11 in late-November to mid-December to losing nine of the last 12 and falling to 20-27. He's already within 51 points of topping his output from any of the last three seasons.
"Last year was frustrating for me," Kaman said. "I missed 52 games. And then I came back and I wasn't in good shape. I was overweight and out of shape. It's hard coming back from three months off and trying to be in good shape. I really put my time in in the summer and made sure that I'm in good shape. When you get hurt, it puts you that much farther back. I'm glad that at least I'm that much better this year. I've been doing a good job of taking care of myself."
He will not call it a reminder season, the kind of campaign that screams his continued presence, in case anyone lost track of Kaman amid all the medical reports the last two seasons. He will not call it vindication.
He will not even bite on the offered victory lap when asked if there is special satisfaction now because of all that came before. Kaman does not want to go there. Not yet.
"I want to wait until the season's over to answer that question," he said. "I really do. There's still a long road ahead and I still have a lot of games left that I need to participate in before I can answer that question."
He has been through enough pain and frustration to know it's a long way from being able to declare victory over the fates. But this is a very encouraging direction. Kaman has been mostly healthy and entirely productive when just lasting through the season would have passed for accomplishment, becoming a potential 20-10 guy in the process and unexpectedly building a candidacy for the All-Star Game.
He made it back. That point has been hammered home.
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