Speculation: Steve Ballmer could move the LA Clippers to Seattle

The LA Clippers have been the little brother in LA ever since their arrival. It seems no matter how much they win, they will always be in the Lakers shadow of trophies. Could owner Steve Ballmer use his ties to Seattle to move the team?

It’s no secret that the LA Clippers are the little brother in Los Angeles, even though if you stroll the streets around Staples Center, you see more LA Clippers advertisements and gear being sold than ever. The matter of the fact is, unless the Clippers win 17 championships in the next 20 years and the Lakers continue their JV style of basketball, they will be the little brother in Los Angeles for many generations. Could Steve Ballmer be looking to change that?

Since Steve Ballmer has taken over the Clippers, he has struggled greatly to create an identity for his team in LA. Another thing that is apparent is that Steve Ballmer wants to make his mark in the NBA and specifically for his team. He’s redesigned the logo, changed the uniforms, added a mascot, and is finally, looking for a new and unique home for his team.

RELATED STORY: Steve Ballmer eyeing arena in Inglewood

If you were paying attention to the Clippers back in February, you saw that Ballmer just isn’t happy in Staples Center. He wants an arena that is solely for the LA Clippers. The Staples Center is currently home to the LA Sparks, Lakers, Clippers, and Kings. Not to mention, that it is also a hot center for hosting huge concerts and events.

Steve Ballmer, then, was reported being in talks with LA Rams owner Steve Kreonke. The discussion was supposedly about the Clippers joining the Inglewood project. The only problem with the Clippers getting their own spot in Inglewood next to the LA Rams new arena, is that it would delay the building of the arena for 18 to 24 months. Inglewood mayor gave his opinion on the topic to ESPN:

"“To introduce another element in it would require city approval and an EIR (environmental impact report), and that would set the project back by 18 months to two years,” Butts said. “To add a basketball arena in there would stop everything right now.”"

For something that would be so huge for Inglewood and the Rams to be put on hold, would not get so much public support. Since February, there hasn’t been much talk on the topic so Steve Ballmer and the Clippers will probably have to extend their search.

Setting Sights on Seattle

This is where Seattle comes into play. Steve Ballmer made two previous attempts to keep the Seattle SuperSonics in Seattle. In March of 2008, Ballmer was part of a group that committed $150 million toward a $300 million renovation of Key Arena. The group was also ready to purchase the Seattle SuperSonics in order to keep the team in Seattle. Then again in June of 2012, Steve Ballmer was a major investor in Chris Hansen’s proposal to build a new basketball arena in Seattle. The same group also made an attempt to purchase the Sacramento Kings for $650 million. The main goal in both projects: put the NBA back in Seattle.

As we all know, both attempts fell short as there is still no team in Seattle. As you read earlier, the Clippers lease in Staples isn’t up until 2024. There’s still a chance that team can move to Seattle in the next seven years. Ballmer had an interview with the Seattle Times back in July of 2016 discussing the matter. He told the Seattle Times:

"“It’s just not likely to happen. There has been no discussion about expansion since I have been involved with the league. So, I don’t think that will happen. The league has really moved to favor teams staying in their current markets. You’d have to find a team that’s at the end of their (arena) lease, where it looks hard to build an arena and where they’ve tried really hard to build an arena.”"

So if there aren’t even any talks about a team moving to Seattle, the likeliness of it happening before 2024 is very slim.

No one likes being in the shadows and the Clippers most likely will never be the bigger team in LA. So is it possible the Clippers move out of the shadow and be the franchise that brought basketball back to Seattle? Yes. Yes it is possible.