As the Clippers have just laid the foundation stone for their new venue, the Intuit Dome, owner Steve Ballmer is hot as coals and doesn’t hesitate to send a very, very clear message to Lakers fans. The Battle of Los Angeles is officially relaunched!
If the long-awaited playoff series between the Lakers and the Clippers has still not taken place, Steve Ballmer can be counted on to keep the Battle of Los Angeles alive. 200% behind his franchise, the bald guy is a specialist when it comes to hyper gallery. How to forget his legendary press conference in the summer of 2019 when the Clips managed to bring Kawhi Leonard and Paul George back to town? How to forget his completely WTF reactions under the basket at each match of his team, he who wets his shirt at least as much as the players? This is all spitting Steve Ballmer. Passionate, ambitious, with a big mouth. The perfect cocktail to grow the rivalry between the Lakers and the Clippers. With its project for a new room which is now underway, Ballmer has been clear: he wants to come out of the shadow of the Lakers, allow his Clips to have their own identity in Los Angeles, and above all walk on the borders of the legendary purple and gold franchise.. The proof with his last declared, to Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times. Spoiler is heavy!
“For a long time the Clippers were nothing, so nobody was calculating them, and for the people who were always Lakers fans, there was no threat. But we got really good. We’re serious, you can see we’re serious, we’re not the old crappy franchise around here anymore, we’re building something and because of that people are like, ‘You can’t do that, he it’s only my team that counts!
But no, we are coming in force. We arrive. “
Come on, that’s balanced. Prepare yourself, the Clippers are not here to laugh. New venue to come, title ambition, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George who are on site, as much to say that Steve Ballmer is aiming very high! What to freak out the fans of the Lakers, used to reigning over the city? Ballmer thinks so!
“I was surprised at the hostility from Lakers fans, and my message is, ‘Why? Don’t you trust your guys? There are 29 other teams that you have to beat to win a title, but obviously you fear us a lot. The Lakers are a big franchise, but Lakers fans, you seem to fear us. “
How good, how good, how good! Whether you like the character or not, there is no doubt that Steve Ballmer is desperate to allow the Clippers to change dimension and become a real attraction in Los Angeles, Lakers or not. For a long-moribund franchise that almost no one was calculating in LA, this is the kind of owner needed after the Donald Sterling scandal. And the fact that he is throwing spades at the Lakers Nation like that, without the slightest restraint, it shows how much he believes in his project. Now, we hope for him that his Clippers will take on the field because we remember the terrible flashback linked to the choke of the bubble, when the Clips had let slip a 3-1 advantage while the battle of Los Angeles was was already preparing …
Please basketball gods, give us a Lakers-Clippers series next April or May, with an armored Staples Center and a standing Kawhi Leonard. We’ve been waiting for more than two years, and after this explosive statement from Steve Ballmer, we can’t wait any longer!
Source texte : Los Angeles Times
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