I like to win. I am super competitive.
I am a Clipper fan. I have been a fan of the Clippers since 1996. While I pull for the Clippers to be winners I have never been a fan of Donald Sterling and when asked I always gave my opinion.
I went to an event once honoring Donald and 4 other notable figures in LA (my Uncle Dr. Katz was one of those figures). I fantasized what I would say to him if given the opportunity. He would be standing in line for a drink and I would say,” GO Clips, been a ticket holder for years” . What would he respond with? Maybe he would say,”oh yeah, where are your seats?” Or ” We have a good year ahead”.
I realized that what he would likely says was something like, “Thank you for your business”.
He viewed the Clippers like he did real estate. He would invest in assets and then find whatever way he could to maximize return regardless of the circumstances. He knew that if he had a bad team, the system would reward him by giving him early draft picks which he could sell, trade or otherwise monetize for self interest rather than the team culture and season success.
Balmer makes the Clippers the Winners.
Blake said it best”Personally, I love that kind of crazy. Ballmer wants to win no matter the cost. Donald Sterling didn’t care if we won — at least if it meant he had to spend money. It wasn’t just about spending money on players. For years, our training staff wanted to buy this sophisticated computer software that would let them scan our bodies and keep track of our progress throughout the season. Sterling wouldn’t sign off on it.”
Pete Deutschman 