RUNNING DOWN A DREAM: GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND CLIPPERS' KAMAN EMERGES AS STANDOUT NBA CENTER.

Byline: Joe Stevens Staff Writer

Wearing long blond wigs and fake beards, a handful of fans came to a recent Clippers game calling themselves ``The Kamaniacs'' in honor of their hero - Chris Kaman.

The fans cheered every time Kaman touched the ball and had such an outrageous look to mimic him that one thing became clear.

Not only has Kaman arrived in the NBA this season, but with hair that hasn't been cut in two years and a scraggly beard in perpetual need of a trim, some fans even view him as a cult figure.

``I'm not like a wild, Ted Nugent psycho,'' Kaman said, referring to the 1970s rock star. ``I'm not crazy. I don't like heavy metal. I don't enjoy drinking. I'm not a big drug guy. I've never done drugs.''

What he does do, however, is average 11.4 points and 9.4 rebounds in the NBA. In his third season, Kaman, 23, already has emerged as one of the league's top centers on one of the NBA's hottest teams.

Kaman is a 7-footer who has the ability to use both power and finesse to score and defend. When he faces 7-foot-6 Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets tonight at Staples Center, Kaman is fully expected to hold his own.

Yao was voted as a starter for the Western Conference All-Star team and is among the elite players in the league. But Kaman's teammate Elton Brand is upset his center was not selected to the squad.

``Kaman ... I don't understand. Who's playing better than him right now?'' Brand said. ``At least he'll have more years to come to be an All-Star, but I really can't name any center, especially in the West, that's playing better than he is.''

The Clippers have a lot of reasons why they stand at 30-19, the most games above .500 in Clippers history.

With Brand making the All-Star squad and Kaman among the league's top centers, coach Mike Dunleavy says the two give the Clippers the best inside game in the NBA.

Brand and Kaman are in the top 10 in field-goal percentage and rebounding. As a team, the Clippers lead the NBA in both rebounding and blocks.

``I've said all along - and everybody from Day 1 has looked at me like I'm out of my mind - that this guy is like the white Tim Duncan,'' Dunleavy said. ``Not right away. He's not ready for that. But three, four years down the road, I said, that's what I see. He's quick, athletic, very skilled fundamentally. There's nothing he won't be able to do.''

Kaman's success has been far from overnight. He was a work in progress his first two years, struggling to learn plays due to attention deficit disorder (ADD), a neurological condition that hinders concentration.

Kaman, from Grand Rapids, Mich., credits his parents for his work ethic and the patience needed to help him develop. Leroy worked 25 years as a city employee in Wyoming, Mich., a suburb of Grand Rapids. Pam is a teacher's aide in a kindergarten class.

He was diagnosed with ADD at 2, and problems surfaced practically at birth. When he was 4, he locked a babysitter out of the house and stayed inside, trying to cook.

When Mark Keeler coached Kaman as a junior at tiny Tri-Unity Christian School, he had a stretch in which he just couldn't get through to the center. Kaman was on Ritalin, experienced fatigue and lost weight. Eventually, he switched from Ritalin to Adderall and his focus improved. He received a scholarship to Central Michigan.

``He was a handful,'' Pam said. ``I used to wonder what would happen with him. He was difficult as a child, very difficult. I didn't know if he would end up in jail or what. He always had a great heart and good intentions, but he was so impulsive that he did things he shouldn't do.''

While his teammates today enjoy hip-hop, jewelry and fancy clothes, Kaman prefers country music, hunting, hooded sweatshirts and working on his 1972 Chevy Chevelle.

At his home in Redondo Beach, three of his friends from back home live with him and act as his chef and assistants. Anyone who knows him says Kaman didn't change when he signed an $11.2 million contract after the Clippers made him the sixth overall pick in 2003.

``The nice thing about Chris is that he really does have a kind heart,'' Keeler said. ``He does care. When he was here, he cared. He cared about his teammates. He cared about his classmates, cared about his teachers. To see what he has accomplished doesn't surprise me at all because of who he is with his character and work ethic.''

Part of that character appeared shortly after he signed with agent, Rob Pelinka. With huge NBA paychecks on the horizon, Pelinka lent him $50,000.

``I just gave it away to everybody - friends, family,'' Kaman said. ``After a week and a half, it was all gone, and my accountant was like, `What the heck did you do with all of that money?' Right then, he knew I couldn't have a checkbook. So I haven't had a checkbook since. I don't have a credit card, either. I just have a bank card, and the most I can spend in a day is $2,000.''

Since college, he has not taken medication for ADD, but that does not mean the struggle is over. Shortly after Kaman was drafted, Dunleavy wasn't pleased with his progress, but soon had an epiphany.

``At one point, he just wasn't doing great, and I was wondering why we drafted him,'' Dunleavy said. ``I got frustrated, and I took my jacket off and went on the court and started doing things, saying 'Can you do this? Or what about this?' He kept doing what I was doing, and at that point, I got it.''

Dunleavy discovered Kaman was a visual learner, and that knowledge has contributed to his breakout season.

``If you look at how I've played since I got in the league, it has been a steady incline,'' Kaman said. ``It's not like it's been going down. I've been trying to make myself better every year. I think I'm just getting more opportunities, and I'm getting older.

``It's not like I have a lot of years, but each year, comes more experience, you know?''

And more fans.

Joe Stevens, [phone]

joe.stevens(at)presstelegram.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Clippers' Chris Kaman has held his own against the elite NBA centers, such as Houston's Yao Ming. Kaman is in the top 10 in field-goal percentage and rebounding.

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images

(2) Chris Kaman struggled in his first two seasons in part because of attention deficit disorder.

Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images

Box:

CLIPPERS vs. HOUSTON

- Joe Stevens