Steve Ballmer Buys Los Angeles Clippers For Unprecedented NBA Price Of $ 2 Billion! Technology Magnate Promises To ‘Right The Ship!’
Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft magnate, has made the LA Clippers the 2nd most expensive franchise in the North America(and Los Angeles). He has vowed to 'right the ship' for the Clips.
From the LA Times: "The NBA announced that the sale of the Clippers was all but done Friday, and billionaire technology magnate Steve Ballmer said he is ready to pull the franchise out of chaos and "live out the dream and make this kind of America's team."
The former Microsoft chief executive, who bid a record $2 billion, described "a big, bold dream for the Clippers" that included winning NBA championships. He talked about turning the team into a role model of inclusiveness, after a month of unrest that followed the release of an audio recording of team co-owner Donald Sterling chastising a female companion for socializing in public with African Americans.
"I've got big dreams for the team. I'd love to win a championship. I'd love the Clippers to be the most dynamic, vibrant team and name in professional sports. But I got a lot to learn," he said.
"The only way any of this makes sense - my desire to spend time in Los Angeles, this team, its aspirations, this community, this purchase price, any of that - is to really kind of live out the dream and make this kind of America's team, the Los Angeles Clippers."
Grantland sees Ballmer as a proactive owner with deep pockets-a new trend of owners that can shape the league. "Ballmer is at or near the top of the league's "wealthiest owner" totem pole, and so he represents another prickly possibility - the potential for another owner willing to blow past the luxury tax in order to win. The league paid lip service to "competitive balance" as a goal of the 2011 lockout, and Silver genuinely cares deeply for that cause, even if ratings for small-market playoff games continue to disappoint. The punitive tax hasn't yet scared off Mikhail Prokhorov and James Dolan; what if it doesn't scare Ballmer, either?"
Would this be good or bad for the NBA? Getting rid of Sterling is always good and this is very close to a best case scenario after the debacle