Steve Ballmer pressed the heels of his hands against his thighs and leaned forward. He was sitting in his customary spot at Staples Center, along the baseline in the arena’s north end. Most NBA owners sit at midcourt and dress like the corporate executives with billion-dollar fortunes that they are. Ballmer was wearing a plaid shirt and casual pants. “I can’t wear a sport coat to a basketball game,” he’d said a few minutes earlier.
In front of him, L.A. Clippers forward Paul George dribbled without moving. Then he passed the ball along the perimeter. Eventually it reached teammate Kawhi Leonard, who was waiting at the top of the circle, behind the three-point line. Leonard, who last season led the Toronto Raptors to the NBA title, flicked a shot with a flattened arc that swished through the hoop. Ballmer gave a quick twitch of satisfaction and sat back in his chair. But soon he was leaning forward again, arms tensed.
The Clippers’ opponents that February evening were the San Antonio Spurs, who have won five championships in the past 21 seasons. In the Clippers’ 50-year history, spread across three cities, they’ve never even appeared in a final. When Ballmer bought them six years ago, they were widely regarded as the worst franchise in sports.
A few weeks later, the NBA would suspend its season to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. But it had already become apparent that the Clippers and Spurs had switched places. For the first time in a generation, the Spurs were losing more than they were winning. They seemed almost certain to miss the playoffs. And the Clippers, who on a single day last summer traded five first-round draft picks to Oklahoma City for George and then signed Leonard to a three-year, $103 million contract, had emerged as one of the NBA’s best teams.
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