Matt Barnes instructed Steve Ballmer to change the Clippers’ title when he purchased the team in 2014.
Everybody laughed at Barnes, but he thinks the franchise is cursed and the concept might be value revisiting following the wage cap scandal.
Matt Barnes instructed Steve Ballmer to change the Clippers’ title when he purchased the team in 2014. Getty Images
“I do think the Clippers are cursed,” Barnes said to TMZ Sports. “I instructed [Steve] Ballmer to change the title when he first got here and everyone form of laughed at me.
“They definitely need to change the name. This…energy is still on this franchise.”
A makeover definitely wouldn’t hurt the Clippers as the franchise strives to reclaim the belief of its followers.
Beyond the NBA’s punishments for circumventing the wage cap — which included 5 first-round picks being taken away, a $30,000 positive and a one-year suspension for Ballmer — the group lost its franchise player in Kawhi Leonard.
There’s much work to be carried out and the Clippers have already began the restore course of at the team’s media day.
Steve Ballmer obtained a one-year suspension. AP Photo/Ryan Sun
“I do think the Clippers are cursed,” Barnes said to TMZ Sports. Getty Images
“Our fans deserve to hear from us before this, and for that we’re sorry,” interim president of basketball operations Trent Redden said. “We’ve been listening to the ideas, the considerations, and feeling the feelings of our fan base. They imply everything to us. … We hope to fulfill our guarantees to them, to construct their belief and transfer ahead through this time.
“This franchise often has done its best work with its back against the wall … We hope to represent our fans the same way we always have in dark times, by coming out fighting.”
The Clippers have been clothed in scandal before Ballmer owned the team. The NBA banned Donald Sterling for life following leaked racist remarks, which pushed the $2 billion sale of the team ahead for Ballmer.
The group hasn’t been in a position to escape its stained previous, but a title change doesn’t appear like it could cause any more hurt than what’s already been carried out.
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