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Los Angeles Clippers: Is Steve Ballmer The Man With The Golden Check?

By Adam McGee

Feb 13, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and wife Rochelle Sterling (Shelly Sterling) react during the game against the Houston Rockets at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 13, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and wife Rochelle Sterling (Shelly Sterling) react during the game against the Houston Rockets at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Keeping The Team In Los Angeles

May 11, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of the Staples Center as Los Angeles Lakers guard Chris Paul (3) is introduced before game four of the second round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
May 11, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of the Staples Center as Los Angeles Lakers guard Chris Paul (3) is introduced before game four of the second round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

It’s hard to overstate just how important this is. There’s one reason and one reason only that the Clippers will sell for a price approaching the $2 billion mark, and that is the City Of Angels. Only one other team in US sports has sold for more than that amount, and that was the Los Angeles Dodgers. Do you see the pattern yet?

Financially, the Clippers being in LA is everything. Not just to the organization, but also to the league. The value and revenue stream that big market teams bring in can’t be ignored, and the pulling power of LA, particularly in terms of TV money, is essential for the NBA.

Another reason why the Clippers must stay in LA is to continue their ascendancy in the city. With no NFL team, America’s second largest city is very much a basketball town, and recently the Clippers have made it a two horse town. With the Lakers at their lowest ebb in years, and the Clippers packing genuine star power, there’s a real opportunity for the organization to force itself to the forefront of the sporting agenda for Angelenos.

If the chance to compete, and maybe some day (long into the future) overtake the Lakers isn’t enough of a motivation for Ballmer, I don’t know what could be.

So, taking all of this into account, why is this even an issue that needs discussing?

Well, Ballmer is a resident in Seattle, and as recently as last year fronted a group that tried to move the Sacramento Kings, another Californian team, to the state of Washington. Ballmer, along with many others, has shown his determination to revive the Supersonics franchise.

As much as the city of Seattle deserves an NBA team again, the Clippers shouldn’t be it. It’s all too easy to say that the NBA won’t let the team be relocated, but at the same time, who would have thought that they’d let a team from Seattle move to Oklahoma City?

Speculation suggests that Ballmer isn’t considering a move, and for the sake of the franchise, Clippers fans should hope this to be true.

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