Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy L.A. Clippers

you better hope he DOESNT fight it if you really want nba next year. the players are poised to strike to get this guy out.

 

$2 Billion...Donald Sterling wins.

Clippy come back to us!

 

He's not losing a thing...his associates no longer want to be in business with him. He's costing them. So they're forcing a sale, and he's going to be compensated for it. Nothing's being snatched...he's making $2 billion off the sale of his team.

These are bylaws he signed...in a private league he willingly bought in to.

 

Donald Sterling is crazy.

 

2 bill....wtf.

 

The NBA didn't declare him mentally unfit. I don't think they voted him out either. This isn't the bylaws it is his wife having him declared crazy and selling the team for the $.

He seemed coherent to me. If he wasn't coherent how can people be angry at him for being racist. I wonder if racist = mentally unfit?

 

Seattle is even more ****ed. Maybe Bill Gates will buy the next team that they get the chance to move.

 

The value of the Clippers is in the local TV rights.

(bad news for non-Comcast viewers in Houston?)

 

When he talks, he frequently sounds drunk. He's completely flipped what he says/does on a day to day basis.

 

He just did an interview with CNN where he said things that were stupid for someone to say if they want to sway public opinion. He seemed to fully understand what his situation was though.

 

Yep. Ballmer was half of Hansen's bid for a team and now he's gone. Unless Ballmer goes the route of countless team owners who've pledged to keep a team in one market while staring off somewhere else, works the long con and moves the Clippers to Seattle, this really does help Bill Simmons' theory. Seattle is to the NBA what Los Angeles is to the NFL; a market desperate for a team used for leverage in any team sale and arena negotiations. Seattle's only foreseeable hope may be the arena deal in Milwaukee falling through.

When it comes to Gates, I doubt he would want to sink money into a vanity project like owning an NBA team. He's more committed to global charities than sitting court side. If Hansen is looking for another Seattle business partner, he'd better start calling Jeff Bezos.

 

I'm fine with them voting him out, per the by-laws. I think it's shady to say he is incompetent to go around the process and avoid voting him out. Voting him out is within the rules. Saying he's nuts to sell the team without his consent and to avoid the rules in place is backhanded, IMO.

I don't feel sorry for him. But I can admit he is being Debo'd. Yes, he is getting a nice cashout.

 

is Yao still interested?

i guess this amount includes legal settlement to shut them up.

 

Yeah, what do i know, but this sounds crazy. Historically, they are one of the worst franchises in professional sports and have always played distant 2nd fiddle to the Lakers. I guess Donald found the perfect time to go on his little rant, what with the Lakers being down and the Clippers having just had their best season.

Maybe dude is crazy like a fox.

 

I believe there is language in the contract that prevents a new owner from moving the team out of LA. And really, why would you? The value is the TV deal and a move to a minor market kills all of that.

I think the reason Sports Teams are blowing up in value is that live sports are becoming the only viable avenue for advertising. More and more regular entertainment is being watched in formats where advertising can be avoided but that is less true of live event.
I think we will find more advertising money chasing the limited space available on live sports, so supply and demand means the teams are worth more.

It also means we may be looking at a future of 4 hour football games and 3 hour basketball games.

 

Just note that it is his wife who had him declared mentally incompetent. As far as we know, the NBA has nothing to do with this. What Sterling's wife is doing is totally within the rules and may be a continuation of an ongoing dispute/divorce they are supposed to be having.

I read this as the Sterling's (minus Donald?) trying to beat the NBA to the punch, knowing there is no chance to beat the NBA in the long run. The Sterling's may just want to sell on their terms and to a buyer of their choosing.

When the recordings first leaked, there we're rumors stating 1) Sterling was suffering dementia and thus his social censor was off, so he was prone to say what really feels without thinking. 2) the recording may have been one of many private recordings he keeps due in part to his dementia and inability to remember everything he says, these days.

 

You're crazy if you think Ballmer is even considering the idea of moving this team to Seattle. An LA franchise might be worth $2b. No way in hell you ever recoup your money if you paid $2b for the Seattle market. Seattle is not in play at all. LA won't flinch at a threat to move the team because they know the Clippers are in the sweet spot right now. Debatable Ballmer would even want an arena just for the Clippers. They have a good deal with Staples.

The high price tag seems to me like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it increases the likelihood the Sterlings just take the money and run. On the other hand, it's sets the value of the damages if Donald pursues a lawsuit.

Eh, the past doesn't matter so much. The important thing is that the Clippers have a license to operate in Los Angeles, have a good local broadcast situation, and a good stadium situation. Ballmer can take that base, improve operations and make something big out of it. It's nice that the Clips have a good team right now, but not essential.

In fact, I think their status as second fiddle can easily change over the next several years. Lakers have a great legacy, but the current ownership doesn't seem to have the business acuity their father had, and probably are at a severe disadvantage against Ballmer in that department. They also don't have the deep pockets Ballmer has. I can see a Clippers renaissance similar to the impact Cuban had for the Mavs. If that happens in tandem with more doldrums for the Lakers, the allegiances of the city will flip.

 

FU, and FU to all the people who keep saying the Clippers will stay in L.A or think is a bad idea if the Clippers move.

 

Ballmer was part of the Seattle group who tried to buy the Kings.

 

Clippers should move, hands down.