Late last month, rumors began to surface that all was not well within the LA Clippers’ organization.
Despite the celebrated ouster of former team owner Donald Sterling, there is reportedly still plenty of tension and dysfunction within the front-office.
2. With that said – since last summer, the Ballmer Clips have been just as much of disaster behind the scenes as the Sterling Clips were.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 25, 2015
3. Ballmer has shown ZERO evidence that he knows what he's doing. And it's been the best kept secret in the NBA for 15-16 months.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 25, 2015
4. The Clips organization has been as dysfunctional as ever – not just the team but especially off the court. It's a laundry list of things.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 25, 2015
The Clips’ PR folks deny that anything is amiss, of course, but according to TMZ, even the players themselves and free agents are growing tired of the drama between the execs:
Major turmoil behind the scenes with the L.A. Clippers … the players are fuming, the staff is confused … and multiple sources tell us all roads lead to a conflict involving Steve Ballmer’s first major hire (Gillian Zucker, the team’s president of business operations.)
Long story short … several players and key staffers feel she’s not just stepping on Doc Rivers’ toes, but she’s creating a divide … leaving many wondering who’s really calling the shots in Clipperland. […] Zucker was tasked with growing the business side of things when she was brought on back in November, while Doc — president of basketball operations and head coach — is supposed to control all things related to winning.
We’re told Zucker has been increasingly more involved on the basketball side … inserting herself into things like player development and playing time decisions … and it’s leaving many people confused, since she’s often not on the same page as Doc. […] In fact, we’re told one player was so frustrated with the power struggle, he actually made the decision not to re-sign with the Clippers because it wasn’t worth the headache.
