After the LA Clippers lost Game 6 of the 2024 Western Conference quarterfinals to the Dallas Mavericks, owner Steve Ballmer did something rare.
He entered his team’s locker room and spoke to the players.
“I mean, it means a lot,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said of that moment. “You have the eighth-richest man in the world, and he’s a real fan, like he’s a real fan. He treats us like family. He actually genuinely cares, about each individual. And we’ve seen that time and time again. When you have an owner that really respects who you are — not as a basketball player — but as a person, and who you are, that means a lot.
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“Not just putting you on a basketball court and saying, ‘OK, you work for me.’ Like, he really genuinely cares about each individual. He cares about the wins. He’s fired up. He’s passionate about it. And, so, that’s what I love the most about Mr. Ballmer. He treats everyone as equals.”
That’s a major departure from how things were just 10 years ago when Donald Sterling was at the helm. Before Sterling was banned from the NBA for life for racist statements, the former Clippers owner was notorious for “White parties” in Malibu, Calif., that showcased new players like Blake Griffin in uncomfortable ways and berating star players like Baron Davis during games.
The FX series “Clipped” debuts this week on Hulu and puts a new spotlight on that reckoning moment not just for the Clippers, but for the NBA as a whole.
“You’ll see really how racist Donald Sterling really was,” actor Jourdan Sweeney, who plays then-Clippers forward Jared Dudley on “Clipped,” told The Athletic. “Just the race aspect of it is going to be very mind-blowing.”
It is a moment that the Clippers’ franchise is not eager to revisit, but it also brought upon one of the greatest silver linings the franchise has ever had. It brought the Clippers Steve Ballmer.
The Clippers have come a long way since Ballmer purchased the team in 2014, a transaction that came after then-rookie NBA commissioner Adam Silver declared that Sterling was banned “for life” after TMZ Sports released audio of Sterling making a racist declaration in a conversation with V. Stiviano after she had posted photos of herself with Magic Johnson.
“It definitely was something that changed everything,” former Clippers center DeAndre Jordan told The Athletic. “It was very emotional. It was a fragile situation. But I think that the league did a great job. We did a great job as players coming together even more during that situation. And later on that summer when Steve did step in, it was a breath of fresh air.”
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What Ballmer has been able to do with the Clippers is move the franchise forward in a way that Sterling was rarely interested in doing. Sterling oversaw the franchise for more than three decades. During that time, from 1981 to 2014, no team had a worse win percentage (.371) than the Clippers. The Clippers have yet to have a losing record in a regular season since Ballmer took over.
“Once we got through it, I actually made a comment to (current Clippers president of basketball operations) Lawrence Frank and a couple guys: We’re about to have a franchise now,” former Clippers coach and now Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers told The Athletic. “We’re going to create a franchise. Obviously, I wanted to win a title. But the first goal was to make this place a place that, when choosing between the Lakers and the Clippers, you go with the Clippers. And we really pulled that off … just bringing high-character guys in, high-character guys into the organization. That’s all we were trying to do.”
When the Clippers did change eras, Ballmer built the future of the franchise around Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Before parting with Rivers in 2020, Ballmer reportedly wanted the opinion of the two future Hall of Famers before making his final decision, showing just how important that relationship with the pair of superstars was.
The Clippers recently reached a contract extension with Lue to cement him as the head coach as Ballmer’s franchise enters a new era at Intuit Dome, furthering getting out of the Lakers’ shadow. Lue’s extension was foreseeable when you heard him discuss how Ballmer has supported Lue’s foundation.
“We’re actually raising $10 million over the next five years to put in the Mexico, Missouri community,” Lue said in January of his hometown. “The biggest and the craziest story is for Mr. Ballmer to be worth over $100 billion and come to Mexico, Mo. with me and stay at a Best Western hotel. And didn’t complain and say it was some of the best rest he’s had! That just tells you who he is, man, just an unbelievable person. I don’t have words to explain the type of person that he really is.”
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There has been plenty of disappointment over Ballmer’s decade of team ownership. The franchise still hasn’t won a championship, or even appeared in a NBA Finals. The only conference finals berth in team history came and went with Leonard being unable to play due to a torn ACL. The Los Angeles Lakers managed to win a championship despite being in the midst of arguably their worst 10-year stretch in franchise history.
But Ballmer’s investment in the Clippers has paid off. His dream to make the Clippers organization a place where stars want to come and win has come to fruition. It’s why the Clippers have made the playoffs four of the past five seasons since acquiring Leonard and George. It’s why James Harden and Russell Westbrook came to LA. It’s why Leonard and Lue have committed to be here long term.
A real-life nightmare played out 10 years ago and FX’s “Clipped” will once again bring emotions to the surface, but Ballmer has been a bright spot after a pretty dark period, and changed the trajectory of this franchise as we know it.
“It was positive in a way,” Jordan said. “Because we did end up getting one of the greatest sports owners in my opinion in Steve. The things that he’s done have been amazing, and I can’t wait to see what he continues to do, especially starting next year.”
(Photo of Ballmer and George: Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)
Law Murray is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the LA Clippers. Prior to joining The Athletic, he was an NBA editor at ESPN, a researcher at NFL Media and a contributor to DrewLeague.com and ClipperBlog. Law is from Philadelphia, Pa., and is a graduate of California University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California. Follow Law on Twitter @LawMurrayTheNU
