In honor of start of NBA playoffs, Ben & David venture off the beaten path to explore one of Steve Ballmer’s most famous acquisitions, his 2014 purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA franchise. Was this landmark purchase a steal or a turnover for the former Microsoft CEO? We speculate wildly!

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Topics covered include:

The Clippers’ founding in 1970 as the NBA expansion team the Buffalo Braves
Early ownership changes and the move west to San Diego in 1981
Acquisition in 1981 by LA lawyer and real estate developer Donald Sterling for $12.5M
Sterling's relocation of the Clippers to LA in 1984 against NBA rules
Struggles over the next 25 years as the "worst franchise in professional sports” according to ESPN
Turnaround beginning in early 2010s led by Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Paul
The bombshell in April 2014, reported by TMZ, of a taped conversation between Sterling and his mistress where Sterling makes hugely offensive and racist comments, directed in particular toward former Lakers point guard Magic Johnson
Fallout from the comments, resulting in a lifetime ban from NBA for Sterling, and a forced sale of the team to former Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer for $2B
Impact of the landmark sale price on NBA and other sports franchise valuations
Clippers performance post-sale, and prospects for the future
The opportunity for technology and business model innovation in the NBA, and professional sports in general

Followups:

Instagram Stories passes 200 million users per day (including correction on the definition of DAU)
The Last Jedi trailer!
Clarifying Starbucks’ same store sales performance post-IPO

The Carve Out:

Ben: Bill Gurley on This Week in Startups
David: Pop, Race & the '60s podcast and Just Around Midnight by Jack Hamilton