Joe Stevens of the Press Telegram reports that Keith Closs is back? for now.

Closs is playing in the LA Summer Pro League for the Frontline team. He had a relatively strong performance on Sunday as he scored 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting. His game may have been impressive, but not everyone was impressed. One scout at the game isn?t sure Closs can make it back to the NBA.

"He has good offensive skills, but he doesn't look too strong. He has good athleticism and can hit a jumper." Overall, the scout liked his game, but called him "a time bomb."

The 7-3 Closs played part of three seasons with the Clippers until he was dismissed from the team for being out of shape and ?unfit to play?. A charge that Closs claims is false.

On October 2, 2000 - media day - a guy comes up to me when I'm changing into my uniform, getting ready for pictures, and in kind words, tells me I'm a head case," Closs said. "So I thank him for his opinion, and a couple of guys couldn't believe he would say something like that to me. Being in that organization, it was something I was used to. They antagonized me a lot, and I fed into it. But I've learned. I don't feed into other people's bull any more. On that same day, they told me not to go to training camp."

Closs repeatedly said Sunday he was never unfit to play. He was then asked why the Clippers claimed that he was.

"I was raised not to let people talk down on me," Closs said. "I gave them ammunition because I would show up late just because I didn't want to deal with those guys and my heart really wasn't there, considering what I was going through."

Even though Closs was set to earn $1.9 million for the 2000 season, the Clippers claimed he was unfit to perform and refused to pay his salary. When he and his attorney fought that, he said he settled for $650,000 to walk away from the team.