So I feel like this news may have fallen under the radar yesterday with everything going on and I wanted to touch on it a little bit.
For as long as I can remember, the Los Angeles Lakers and their ugly step-brother, the Los Angeles Clippers have shared the Staples Center. It seems that those days have come to an end.
Yea, you read that right. Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is buying The Forum in Inglewood, CA for a cool $400 Million in CASH, after he reached an agreement with the Madison Square Garden Company.
No, big deal. He’s just dropping BIG STACKS IN CASH.
Okay, first of all this brings an end to an era of the Lakers and the Clippers sharing the Staples Center, something I thought was pretty cool. But this also is the beginning of a new era in Los Angeles.
I’m probably not wrong when I say the Clippers are sick of being the ugly step-child. Actually I know I’m right. But I also know that this is probably something that’s been known since ya know they went out and basically threw everything out the window to get Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
They also have a pretty solid roster built around their two superstars with guys like 6-man Lou Will and perennial junkyard dog Patrick Beverley.
I mean this team is on the way to becoming a serious contender year in and year out. And for the people out there who are like, well aren’t they a contender now?
Well yea, kinda sorta. I need to see them do it year in and year out to get to the next level. Any franchise can go out, throw their future away to get a few superstar players, win a championship and then be done. I wanna see these guys do it year after year.
I think they have the owner to do it too.
Since he took over, Ballmer has been my favorite owner next to Mark Cuban. He’s a guy who’s on the sidelines, being energetic, being wild, and being smart to make his team great.
Courtside antics aside, I mean just take in the first few minutes of Kawhi’s and George’s introductory conference.
This dude is WILD and I love it. I think this is just the beginning for the Clippers. So watch out Lakers! Ballmer is coming for you!
thoughtsfromthebench.com 