The LA Clippers will debut their new home court with the Intuit Dome this coming 2024–25 season, built by team owner Steve Ballmer, but they will not have Paul George suiting up for a different squad. This off-season, the nine-time NBA All-Star irked the former Microsoft executive after building a good relationship with him.
In a chance interview with ESPN, Ballmer reveals his true feelings about his organization failing to give the 34-year-old Paul George a sound agreement for the next few years.
“I love Paul, let’s start with Paul as a human being. Paul is a great human being and I’ve really enjoyed my opportunity to get to know Paul’s family. So on a personal level, I hated it. I hated it,” said Ballmer.
Even with George leaving the Clippers to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, Ballmer still has respect for the six-foot-eight swingman and has had high regard for him in his basketball career.
“From a basketball perspective, Paul is a fantastic player, future Hall of Famer. But we knew we needed to continue to get better.”
George will be moving towards the NBA EAstern Conference with a prime chance to win an NBA championship teamed up with former league MVP Joel Embiid and rising star Tyrese Maxey. On the other side of the fence, the Clippers locked Kawhi Leonard and James Harden for the upcoming season but is still expected to make more changes as of this writing.
Steve Ballmer still likes the LA Clippers chances to win a championship without Paul George
It is quite hard to replace Paul George with the limited choices in free agency, but Clippers team owner Steve Ballmer still feels that they can still compete for a championship even if they reside in a stacked NBA Western Conference.
The 68-year-old businessman admits that it will be a tough road for them but the team still has the talent to make a good run at the title.
“The west is tough, it’s gonna be competitive,” Ballmer said. “But we still have two Hall of Famers, MVP and Finals MVP on our team. Let’s face it, most people would be salivating to have that on their team and we have a lot of good–great players, actually to fill in, play defense, play tough, guys we picked up.”
Since Ballmer bought the Clippers in 2024, the team has had its best finish in league history, reaching the NBA Western Conference Finals once in 2021, losing to the Phoenix Suns in six games. For the past two seasons, the Clippers got knocked out by the Suns and Dallas Mavericks respectively.
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