Editor’s Note:
This is a guest post from Justin of FantasyBasketballMoneyLeagues.com. For more NBA news and updates, visit Fantasy Basketball Money Leagues today or follow him up at this Google+ page.
It’s official now. The Los Angeles Clippers have a new owner.
Steve Ballmer was one of the people interested in purchasing the Clippers and his bid officially closed last Tuesday. It was made official once a California court confirmed the sale of the team being issued by Shelly Sterling on behalf of the Sterling Family Trust.
In May, Steve Ballmer put in his bid of $2 billion to buy the Los Angeles Clippers, but never got the chance to complete the sale until last Tuesday. After Shelly Sterling was given the authority to sell the team without the consent of her husband, Donald Sterling, due to the recent scandal surrounding him.
In an interview, Steve Ballmer said, “It’s very, very exciting. I’m a basketball nut.” Steve Ballmer continued with, “I’ve got time. I love Los Angeles. I love Seattle, too, which is where we have our home. But the notion of spending a lot of time in Los Angeles has been exciting to me for years. The community down there is great. I look forward to supporting the community, the fan base, the staff, Doc [Rivers] and the players to take this thing to higher heights.”
Ballmer also stated that there were some times of frustration because of the delay. However, he said he never gave up and always stayed confident that they would be able to complete the sale. “My job has been to complete the deal and there were a lot of people, including me, working on it for a long time,” said Ballmer. “Was I kind of itchy? Sure. But I knew the only thing I could do or should do was complete the final deal, and we were able to do that this morning.”
In the middle of July, Ballmer was interviewed by the NBA’s board of governors. Last week, that same group took an electronic vote in order to approve him. It was later announced that he was unanimously approved to become an owner in the NBA.
Once the court proceedings were finished, Ballmer didn’t waste any time closing that deal. His plan was to get it over with as soon as possible. After the order from the court came in at around 11:30 am last Tuesday, they got to work. “We were ready,” said Ballmer’s attorney, Adam Streisand. “Within minutes, the deal was signed, sealed and delivered.”
This change in ownership has clearly changed the Los Angeles Clippers for the better. You can see it in the way the coaches, players and fans speak about it. They are all ecstatic, in good spirit and ready for another successful season.
Last Season
Now, it’s not like they had a bad season last year. They actually had a great season last year. They finished with a 57-25 record, winning 69.5% of their games. They finished in first place in their Pacific Division. They finished in third place in the very tough Western Conference, only five games behind first place and champion San Antonio Spurs. Overall, at the end of the season, they had the third best record in the NBA. That’s nothing to be disappointed about.
They started the playoffs with the third seed in the West and were matched up against the Golden State Warriors, a six seed. After losing the first game, they won the next two taking a 2-1 lead. Then they lost Game 4, won game 5 and lost game six to take the series to a Game 7. In Game 7, the Clippers won 126-121.
After the first round win against the Warriors, they were matched up to play the Oklahoma City Thunder, a number two seed. As the Donald Sterling mess stirred up, the Clippers were forced to move on and play basketball. They ended up winning Game 1 against the Thunder. Following that, they lost the next two games before winning in Game 4. That took the series to a 2-2 tie. However, the next two games were very close and didn’t go the Clippers way. They lost both and fell to the Thunder 2-4.
Offseason
Although a lot of attention has been on the Donald Sterling case, the team still had to go through their normal offseason traditions. They still had to make sure their team was ready to compete for the upcoming season.
Other than cleaning up the mess Donald Sterling created, they had other needs and hopes to accomplish this offseason. They needed some wing players that can create shots and defend. They are always left with a lot of wing players, but they aren’t very versatile. They also needed help with their front court defense.
In the draft, they added another shooter in C.J. Wilcox out of Washington. Although it was only adding to the list of great shooters they have, it was indeed a smart move. They didn’t really have a lot of options for a front-court pick, so this was their best choice. Also, it would be nice to have some new blood to fill in for some of the veteran guys on the team.
After the draft, the Clippers made a series of moves. They brought back Glen Davis, even though he had conflicts with the coaching staff. They also added Spencer Hawes, who will give them great rebounding and be able to spread the floor nicely. Once Darren Collison signed with the Sacramento Kings, they knew they needed to replace him quickly. They did that by grabbing Jordan Farmar. He’s a great shooter who knows how to run an offense. He can easily be their backup point guard as well as a combo guard who can work with Chris Paul.
Upcoming Season
There’s no doubt the team has a lot of momentum right now. They are in a good place and should see that translate well on the court next season. They got rid of their “troubling” owner and added one that can’t wait to be a part of this team in the regular season. They added some size down low and got a backup guard as well. The Los Angeles Clippers added the players they needed to and are set to compete for an NBA title next season.
