Are the Clippers exhibition games in Seattle a test?

[Wall_To_Clips]

I’ll be at the Clippers vs Blazers preseason game on Oct 3rd in Seattle. I get the feeling the NBA is doing a test run at this new Climate Arena having two Clippers games there. The games are already mostly sold out I believe.

Is Seattle getting a team soon? Is this a test?

[esqtvd]

I’ll be at the Clippers vs Blazers preseason game on Oct 3rd in Seattle. I get the feeling the NBA is doing a test run at this new Climate Arena having two Clippers games there. The games are already mostly sold out I believe.

Is Seattle getting a team soon? Is this a test?

The individual teams book their own preseasons. The NBA is not involved. They can play whomever and wherever they want. I imagine they can even play zero preseason games if they want.

But Ballmer has lived up there for 40 years and do I think he wants to help.


https://www.si.com/nba/clippers/news/steve-ballmer-says-seattle-gets-expansion-team-but-not-clippers

[Cactus Jack]

I’ll be at the Clippers vs Blazers preseason game on Oct 3rd in Seattle. I get the feeling the NBA is doing a test run at this new Climate Arena having two Clippers games there. The games are already mostly sold out I believe.

Is Seattle getting a team soon? Is this a test?

The Warriors played a preseason game at the old Key Arena a few years ago. This is mostly Ballmer doing the city a solid. Along with Tim Leiweke whose company runs Climate Arena.

Fwiw I'm still pissed that he gave up on his efforts here & bought the Clippers instead. He bailed.

[Wall_To_Clips]

I’ll be at the Clippers vs Blazers preseason game on Oct 3rd in Seattle. I get the feeling the NBA is doing a test run at this new Climate Arena having two Clippers games there. The games are already mostly sold out I believe.

Is Seattle getting a team soon? Is this a test?

The Warriors played a preseason game at the old Key Arena a few years ago. This is mostly Ballmer doing the city a solid. Along with Tim Leiweke whose company runs Climate Arena.

Fwiw I'm still pissed that he gave up on his efforts here & bought the Clippers instead. He bailed.

I’m in a big minority. I personally think Clips should move to Seattle. They will have the entire city behind them, and make their own legacy. They could win 3 rings and be a winning team for 20+ years and barely dent the Lakers fan base. I don’t get why they are so set on LA. I assume it’s because LA just has a bigger market, and more non basketball events.

If I remember correctly though as part of the sale to Ballmer, I believe Shelly Sterling had him put it in writing to never move the team. Sucks Ballmer bailed on Seattle, you’ll get a team in the next few years.

[Cactus Jack]

Sucks Ballmer bailed on Seattle, you’ll get a team in the next few years.

The Clippers do belong in L.A. I'm not in anyway in favor of relocation.

He gave up when the Kings debacle didn't go in his favor. His partner (Chris Hansen) was partly to blame.

If he had just been a little patient then he could have later partnered with Leiweke & his group. Who eventually got a new arena built, along with bringing the NHL to Seattle.

A lot of fans here still hold that against him.

[Wammy Giveaway]

I’m in a big minority. I personally think Clips should move to Seattle. They will have the entire city behind them, and make their own legacy. They could win 3 rings and be a winning team for 20+ years and barely dent the Lakers fan base. I don’t get why they are so set on L.A. I assume it’s because L.A. just has a bigger market, and more non basketball events.

You're only scratching the surface. The roots of Clippers wanting to win exclusively in Los Angeles all goes back to the owner swap of 1978. Then Celtics owner Irv Levin was no longer feeling Boston, even with the numerous titles they'd won. He wanted a challenge, he wanted to win in California but Levin knew the NBA would not allow the Celtics to venture westward. As a compromise, he took a middling franchise, the Buffalo Braves from John Y. Brown, in an owner swap. To the Clippers, it's basically unfinished business, "Do it for Levin."

I've already talked about why Clippers going to Seattle feels scummy to me. It's another way of saying Clippers don't deserve to be in the NBA, that the dysfunctional shenanigans of the disgraced owner, the evil Donald Sterling, were a pimple to the face of the league, and if they were completely replaced by the return of Supersonics, then NBA would become the premiere sports league in all of North America. Of course, that would require massive revisionist history: OKC returning Sonics history back to Seattle's; Clippers shutting down cold turkey; and Clippers taking the place as scapegoat for Seattle losing its team, when it was really Clay Bennett who wanted the move to happen in the first place. All this would be seen as Laker propaganda, of course - and based on some of the tweets I've seen over the years, the sentiment of getting rid of the Clippers is still there - especially when you involve the vetoed Chris Paul trade into the equation.

[madmaxmedia]

Sucks Ballmer bailed on Seattle, you’ll get a team in the next few years.

The Clippers do belong in L.A. I'm not in anyway in favor of relocation.

He gave up when the Kings fiasco didn't go in his favor. His partner (Chris Hansen) was partly to blame.

If he had just been a little patient then he could have later partnered with Leiweke & his group. Who eventually got a new arena built, along with bringing the NHL to Seattle.

A lot of fans here still hold that against him.

When the deal first happened, a bunch of posters (general board, not Seattle fans) said it was only a matter of time before he moved to Seattle. That never made sense to me for multiple reasons, including financial.

But yeah, I understand how Seattle fans could have been really disappointed in Ballmer when he bought the Clips. When/if NBA comes back to Seattle, he would have been a great person to spearhead the effort.

[Clemenza]

Thank god our arena is being built if not exhibitions in Seattle would be meltdown status. The media would go nuts off that sh*t. Seriously though, why are we playing exhibitions up there anyways? Its ridiculous. I hate how the Clipps are always linked to Seattle and I wish Starbucks/Shultz and his cronies should've held on the Sonics and not sold to that two-faced Bennett guy in the first place. They would be worth billions in Seattle by now. Sick of this sh*t. Give them their expansion team so we can live in peace

[Cactus Jack]

Sucks Ballmer bailed on Seattle, you’ll get a team in the next few years.

The Clippers do belong in L.A. I'm not in anyway in favor of relocation.

He gave up when the Kings fiasco didn't go in his favor. His partner (Chris Hansen) was partly to blame.

If he had just been a little patient then he could have later partnered with Leiweke & his group. Who eventually got a new arena built, along with bringing the NHL to Seattle.

A lot of fans here still hold that against him.

When the deal first happened, a bunch of posters (general board, not Seattle fans) said it was only a matter of time before he moved to Seattle. That never made sense to me for multiple reasons, including financial.

But yeah, I understand how Seattle fans could have been really disappointed in Ballmer when he bought the Clips. When/if NBA comes back to Seattle, he would have been a great person to spearhead the effort.

He just completely botched his opportunity here.

He came to the table way too late in the process prior to the Sonics moving. The team was already sold & out the door at that point. The league had approved it. His excuse was that he was still running Microsoft at the time.

Then when the Kings we're made available, he made a deal with the Maloof's but did so thinking he wouldn't have a fight on his hands for the team. The owners obviously vetoed it for good reason.

His next move was making a play for the Bucks. But when the league told him he couldn't just buy & move a team, that's when he bailed.

The Sterling fiasco was his chance to cash in.

[esqtvd]

If he had just been a little patient then he could have later partnered with Leiweke & his group. Who eventually got a new arena built, along with bringing the NHL to Seattle.

A lot of fans here still hold that against him.

All the more motivation for Ballmer to use his influence to help his adopted hometown get a team again...

[MartinToVaught]

Seattle fans are annoying hypocrites, and at this point I hope the Sonics never come back. You don't get to cry about having your team stolen and then turn around and get mad at not being able to steal other cities' teams.

[Cactus Jack]

Seattle fans are annoying hypocrites, and at this point I hope the Sonics never come back. You don't get to cry about having your team stolen and then turn around and get mad at not being able to steal other cities' teams.

Agreed.

I think it's important to note however that the vast majority of fans here don't actually want to steal another team. Expansion is the preferred route. Frankly, moving teams should not be allowed.

The issue is that the league has been dragging it's feet in regards to expansion for quite some time. For fans it's a helpless feeling.

Ultimately without expansion, relocation is part of the discussion. Whether we agree with it or not.

[clipperlover]

Please no expansion of the NBA. No one wants to see more dilution of talent across teams. It will lead to more mediocre players getting big contracts to compensate for the money that the new teams will need to pay for a roster and the existing teams that have to sign players into a roster spot.

Expand the G League, so more talent can be develop to a level where they can truly contribute at the next level.

Maybe the NBA should just change their entire format. Pay every player the exact same amount. The re-distribution of wealth seems only fair. Why give a select few players big contracts while everyone else gets scraps? Determine the % of revenue that owners share with the players and then divide the amount by the number of players.

Based on the current year's salary and the # of players in the NBA, each player would make nearly $10M/yr. The rookie's then wouldn't need to feel inferior when they can't go eat at the same restaurant as the better paid players. You would never have to stretch someone's contract.

[ejftw]

I hope there is no expansion, I'd rather see some sort of a legit second tier and Pro/Rel, as it would allow Seattle and Vancouver to get another crack along with places like Vegas, Louisville, DayGo and others to get an opportunity. It would lead to more parity and absolutely curb tanking.

However, the NBA doesn't want to curb tanking fully and the owners are too fond of the socialistic revenue sharing to bring such a thing to fruition.

Wall_To_Clips also needs a reality check. Folks like him are the same ones who never thought City would have a firm grasp on United, but let's see how Manchester is going.