Jury finds against Baylor in Clippers suit

LOS ANGELES, March 30 (UPI) -- Former Los Angeles Clippers General Manager Elgin Baylor was not wrongfully fired from the team three years ago, a jury decided Wednesday.

The Los Angeles jury found against the NBA hall of famer, determining he did not prove the Clippers engaged in age and race discrimination when dismissing him before the 2008-09 season.

The Clippers released a statement calling the decision "inevitable" and "a complete vindication of all the baseless claims asserted by Mr. Baylor."

"For more than two years, Mr. Baylor's counsel has gone to extraordinary lengths in a fruitless effort to fabricate a case," Clippers General Counsel Robert Platt said in the statement. "The jury saw through their baseless rhetoric and quickly realized that there were no facts to support any of Mr. Baylor's allegations."

Baylor, who spent 22 years as the Clippers' GM, included scathing allegations against team owner Donald Sterling in the suit.

The 76-year-old Baylor was named an NBA all-star 11 times during 14 seasons as a player with the Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers.