As the LA Clippers continue their push in securing a new home in Inglewood, the Lakers and the MSG Company have been much more engaged in blocking this deal then focusing on the current state of their franchise.
Back in 2017, the LA Clippers were going to formally propose a new arena in Inglewood, right across the street of the future home of the Chargers and Rams.
But in new emails released today via the LA Times and Nathan Fenno, the Lakers looked into sabotaging Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer and move back to Inglewood before he could.
The three members that were involved in these emails were business mogul Irving Azoff, Lakers Owner Jeanie Buss, and top advisor Linda Rambis.
The plan brought up by Azoff was to rebuild the Forum and have the Lakers move back in along with hosting concerts.
Azoff, Jeanie and Rambis each took jabs at both the Clippers franchise, who currently have a better record, and at Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer, the richest owner in all 4 major sports.
In the emails, they referred to Ballmer as “Ballz” and/or “Balls”. They also seemed to mock the idea of Ballmer’s plan coming to fruition and actually panning out.
Here is the dialogue shared between both Azoff and Buss:
"Jeanie Buss: They are all crazy, this is a joke. Why would Adam (Silver) let this happen?Irving Azoff: He has no vote unfortunately, it will be a long legal fight.Jeanie Buss: Didn’t Ballz see what we did to my brother?? He will have nothing but Clippers basketball. Whoopee.Via LA Times"
Azoff would then email Buss and share his prediction of how the Clippers-Inglewood Arena would turn out.
He claimed, “Ghost Town!” As the Lakers top brass and Azoff continue discussing non-professionally, the Clippers still maintain their focus in having their own arena strictly for basketball.
In this clip down below (skip to 6:22), Steve Ballmer and Jimmy Kimmel converse over the Clippers plan of building their own arena in Inglewood, take a listen.
The Clippers currently hold a better record than the Lakers, a better front-office, a much more professional owner, a better roster, and if all things go right, they might be the new free-agent destination for years to come.
With the Lakers dealing with in-house turmoil throughout much of the season, it is nice to see the Clippers starting to become more appealing to agents, players and fans across the league.
Soon the team will have the their own arena and Staples Center will be left a ghost town with solely Lakers basketball. Whoopee!