Steve Ballmer possibly buying the Clippers

[Smelly McUgly]

And you had to know at some point Sterling would change his mind and fight.

I HOPE HOPE HOPE this goes to a protracted court battle, the NBA has to open its books, we get all sorts of juicy, shady dealings info out of it, the owners books show that they were lying about profit loss and the NBAPA tries to blow up the current CBA, and then Sterling loses his team anyway.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let this happen.

 

[Tech Worlds]

I too want this to get messy. Just because my hatred for the NBA grows daily.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Please do get in a court battle. My contempt for the NBA knows no limit.

 

[Hawkfan77]

You're forgetting that Ranadive was just the richest of several buyers. No one's saying Hansen wasn't contributing financially, just that Balmer was the major contributor.

Hansen was always and will continue to be the majority owner. He didn't get this all together, buy the land and do everything (including recruit Ballmer) to be just part of an ownership. It was Ballmer who was going to be part of Hansen's ownership group, not the other way around.

 

[Throwdown]

preception for us was that Hansen was the front man for it all.

I know no one is going to like this comparison but it was like the OKC ownership, Bennett wasn't the money guy, it was McLendon.

 

[Throwdown]

I can't find the exact tweet, but the NBA didn't approve Shelly Sterling to negotiate anything. Sounds like it may all be for not for now, until the vote out on the 3rd.

 

[pinksheets]

Done.

Los Angeles Times ‏@latimes 4m
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy the Clippers for $2 billion

 

[Throwdown]

Welp

 

[pmedic920]

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/- ... -80349754/

All but a done deal.
Minor details left.

 

[BlueBlood]

Sweet, get to die someday with out an NBA team. Will never step foot in anotber NBA Arena. Word has it that this deal is contingent upon them not moving to Seattle or any other city.

Interesting how the NBA won't allow anybody to by a team and move it here but help to orchestrate our team being ripped from our hands. I'm absolutely disgusted by this entire situation. Its like hey Seattle screw
you but don't expect us to screw somebody else for you. Something tells me that if this was 5 years ago they would not have a problem at all moving them to Seattle . What a f****** joke!!!!!!!!

 

[Blitzer88]

Let's put it this way.... Ballmer is part of the group trying to get a team in Seattle. If HE is running off to purchase a team in another city it basically means nothing is coming our way for the foreseeable future and he frankly didn't feel up to waiting around for something that isn't coming anytime soon.

That's why this is the death blow.

There is no team coming here anytime in the next few years or it would be reasonable to figure Ballmer would have waited.

This.......we just lost our biggest chip.......game, set, match..............

 

[Blitzer88]

Man..................this SUCKS! NBA wins, Seattle loses.......again.

 

[Throwdown]

I don't think seattle lost anything. Hansen was the majority investor, Ballmer was minority and just a name.

 

[TheRealDTM]

I don't think seattle lost anything. Hansen was the majority investor, Ballmer was minority and just a name.

I don't think losing the potentially/now actual richest owner in the NBA is nothing....

We've lost the richest owner in the league........

 

[Throwdown]

Oh dear goddd, OH LORDD

Vivek Ranadive isn't even the richest guy in his field of work and owns the Kings, that means nothing.

 

[TheRealDTM]

Oh dear goddd, OH LORDD

Vivek Ranadive isn't even the richest guy in his field of work and owns the Kings, that means nothing.

Ok, what if: An expansion team is made available in 5 years and we are out bid.

It obviously hurts our chances, the guy apparently doesn't need to be vetted (aka pre-approved). I'm sorry man I know its a bummer but it is what it is. Not the end of the world but a big speed bump on an already rough road.

 

[Hawkfan77]

I don't think seattle lost anything. Hansen was the majority investor, Ballmer was minority and just a name.

This is exactly what I've been saying.

It was Hansen that bought the land. It was Hansen who INVITED Ballmer to be apart of HIS group as a minority investor. It is Hansen is was putting up the money for the arena.

It doesn't matter how much Ballmer is worth, he was always a minority investor, his >50% ownership of the group has no correlation to his wealth.

 

[Hawkfan77]

Oh dear goddd, OH LORDD

Vivek Ranadive isn't even the richest guy in his field of work and owns the Kings, that means nothing.

Ok, what if: An expansion team is made available in 5 years and we are out bid.

It obviously hurts our chances, the guy apparently doesn't need to be vetted (aka pre-approved). I'm sorry man I know its a bummer but it is what it is. Not the end of the world but a big speed bump on an already rough road.

You're assuming too much.

First you assume Hansen and the Nordstroms don't have the means to get into a bidding war by themselves. Second you are assuming that Hansen stands pat and brings no one else into their group.

Ballmer, by himself, just outbid a group worth WAAAYYYY more than he is. More money doesn't always mean higher bids.

 

[TheRealDTM]

Oh dear goddd, OH LORDD

Vivek Ranadive isn't even the richest guy in his field of work and owns the Kings, that means nothing.

Ok, what if: An expansion team is made available in 5 years and we are out bid.

It obviously hurts our chances, the guy apparently doesn't need to be vetted (aka pre-approved). I'm sorry man I know its a bummer but it is what it is. Not the end of the world but a big speed bump on an already rough road.

You're assuming too much.

First you assume Hansen and the Nordstroms don't have the means to get into a bidding war by themselves. Second you are assuming that Hansen stands pat and brings no one else into their group.

Ballmer, by himself, just outbid a group worth WAAAYYYY more than he is. More money doesn't always mean higher bids.

I don't think it destroys our chances, but to play devils advocate I wouldn't assume we can find someone else whose willing to outbid someone like Ellison. Ballmer obviously had a huge passion for basketball, even if you want to reduce his contribution to name alone like you said above, that's still a loss of influence.

 

[Blitzer88]

I'm sorry, but I just cannot see how losing Ballmer is anything, but bad news for us. Yes, we may have people that can fill his hole in the group, but name recognition alone, was a huge part of having him in the group. Plus, potentially having the richest owner in the NBA as part of your group was a plus as well. Heck, I would not be surprised to see the Seattle city council wanting to talk to Chris about this event thus causing us even more problems. I mean Hansen has got to be getting tired of this already.