[Poe] Lonzo Ball had high praise for the Intuit Dome tonight, highlighting the accommodations for visiting teams including a cold tub and expanded locker room: “(Steve Ballmer) is very thoughtful thinking of the away team. We appreciate that.”
In the NBA, opponents are always potential future employees.
Mark Cuban improved the locker rooms and experience for the visiting teams when he bought the Mavs. It’s smart.
I forgot which podcast it was, but he said he had good catering in the visitors locker rooms every game.
Good food doesn’t cost much to an NBA player but the convenience of having good food already prepared for you goes a long way.
It’s like what Alcatraz prison used to do with showers. They made sure all the showers were nice and warm to discourage escape attempts which would require swimming in freezing cold water.
“Trade me to that prison with the delectable finger foods.”
Guantanamo x Alcatraz pick swap would go hard.
i heard you can water board all day long in guantanamo. You can’t do that in Alcatraz.
that’s smart af
Treating prisoners humanely has soooooo many benefits.
Gilbert Arenas said the Cavs was the first team he visited that got good food, it made him think if this is what we are getting, what are they giving LeBron.
Pretty sure it was All the Smoke
Edit: added link
Luxury towels.
That’s why I love that man
Meanwhile Jeanie Buss is out somewhere applying for more PPP money
Heard she got denied for a loan bc her credit score was too low /s
Ballmer is one of the few billionaires out there who isn’t actively trying to make a name for himself on the political scene. I can appreciate that.
“Love” is a strong word to me, but I’d like to hear your opinion if I can.
All I’ve really got is that Balmer’s completely willing to pay, plus take reasonable swings & misses at big stars, and also seems incredibly enthusiastic & cheery as a fan.
So, what else we got…? (curious, not trying to be sarcastic or rude, thanks)
for starters balmer personally donated 15 million for fire relief aid primarily to altadena which is like 3x or something more than the joint donation of all the LA sports teams donated to the entire city (which he contributed to as part of the clippers)
Thanks!
But it also makes me wonder why more billionaires don’t make publicly-trackable donations like this, which tend to cost them barely nothing in the scheme of their wealth…
to be honest there’s a lot that do but what they’re doing isn’t on the news or isn’t reported on or isn’t received positively so it isn’t viral. there’s significantly more philanthropy happening in the top 1% of society than people are willing to believe or admit. you might not hear about a lot of it bc they don’t want you to or bc you just aren’t looking in the right places. Look up warren buffets the giving pledge if you’re curious. it’s all about billionaires having a place to put their philanthropic money. should note here it’s also important to remember not all of billionaire philanthropy is actually altruistic. there are benefits and reasons to it in many circumstances but we shouldn’t let that takeaway from the billionaires who are actively doing things and take pride in it.
The problem with donations is when to say no. For a crisis on the level of the LA fires it’s “easy” to make a donation and nobody bats an eye but for example if you donate to one cancer org and not another people start to nitpick. You even see it with something like Games Done Quick. People love donating to Doctor’s Without Borders because they have a fantastic track record and do good globally but people frequently question why the Prevent Cancer Foundation is still the other recipient as it’s an American focused organization for a global event.
You used to hear all the time about players getting drafted then Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, they’ve never heard of coming out the woodwork looking for their handouts.
Yep. Altho technically this would incentivize you to stay being the away team, assuming every home team gets pampered by themselves
It should incentivize the players to want to play for an accommodating and thoughtful owner like Ballmer. If away teams are treated like this, imagine the home team.
That’s what Cuban did.
That’s who I thought of as well, I remember him going on about that when he first bought the team.
I wonder if there’s any evidence it was effective? I’ve never thought that Dallas was more successful at recruiting FA, and if they are then tax rates are mentioned most often.
They got Klay at a cheaper price than his hometown LA offered, Klay said the conversation with Kyrie about the organization is what sold it other than the finals appearance and fit.
exactly, anyone who has options wants to goto work with good people and a good energy/culture, even more so if your place has nice facilities, good gym all these things especially as you get older and more experienced make a difference if the money is marginally different
Absolutely no major FAs came to any team but a coastal team or a super contending team.
If you look at it there best free agent to ever go to a team that wasn’t on the coast was Lamarcus Aldridge going to the spurs .. who were at the end of their dynasty run.
You literally can’t name another one before the Cap changes that just went in.
Millsap to the Nuggets.
Vote
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Millsap
Yeah i get it i just thought it was funny to point out, if u dont play for the clips u get pampered at 16 arenas instead of 15
They play half the games at home, no?
assuming every home team gets pampered by themselves
Iggy used to warn their rookies that playing for the Warriors is not the “real NBA”. That if they move to another team don’t expect the same level of perks and amenities. There are definitely more generous owners that go above and beyond.
Would love to hear Poole’s thoughts on that lol
Joe Lacob didn’t punch Poole lol
you think everyone’s getting treated like how balmer treats the clippers? lol
if he is a employee he wont be in away locker rooms
Well yeah, the point is that if you’re offering top facilities/consideration for away players then you look like you’ll be taking care of your own even better, making it more appealing to go there.
Now that the landscape of college football has changed, I wonder if that will carry over.
How so? Teams were already forced to spend all their incoming revenue each year, which is why top programs were/are redoing their locker rooms every 6-8 years. The equipment isn’t outdated, they just have to spend the money and couldn’t do so on the players so just kept putting it back into their facilities.
On Tik tok I was getting a 4 star football recruit on my FYP for a little while and the facilities at top programs is insane. People get on the 8 year eligibility players but some of those places I would never want to leave, even for NFL as I assume a lot of NFL facilities doesn’t have the things that say the Florida Gators does
It’s so different in soccer lol
Exactly, it makes the players think, “If the away locker room is this nice, the home locker room must be unbelievable.”
Ballmer is good for the nba
Billionaire owners need to act like Ballmer and OG George Steinbrenner. Not Scrooge McDuck
George Steinbrenner hired private investigators to dig up dirt on his own players because he would publicly feud with them if he felt they were underperforming. This led to him being suspended from baseball for a few years, which kept him from making stupid trades and allowed Gene Michael to actually build up the 90s Yankees. If George was in charge we’d have traded Bernie, Posada, Rivera, possibly even Jeter
He was a loudmouth who was full of bravado and was able to take credit for something he would’ve never had the patience to do
He was also a felon who the FBI was trying to investigate for potential connections to Watergate before Nixon resigned and he managed to plead out for lesser campaign violations.
I mean, on a personal level all billionaire owners are pretty despicable. I’m explicitly referring to willingness to spend on players and facilities which he’s far more famous for.
But I feel you.
Frank Costanza was right.
Cool he still burned money on the team like he was dying of cold exposure which almost no team owner does these days.
lol was this a shot at Dolan? Cause, to his credit, he is paying for a solid team you guys have
Paying for a team is the expectation.
Paying for fans, opponents, and the community is optional and commendable.
Paying to using facial recognition tech to ban your franchise’s old players is optional and sad.
My guy, we had Jordan for years. Any owner who pays for their team is above & beyond the pale in my book.
Yes Jordan was also pretty bad but Charlotte has never been a big money place. Pacers fans would sympathize in that regard. But I think Knicks fans generally complain that Dolan chooses to spend money on the wrong things.
definitely right criticisms, but for an owner your main job is to sign the checks and pay up during a championship window.
many owners will skirt still on tax. Think Mickey Arison literally using the amnesty on Mike Miller when they 4 straight finals and the heatles….no wonder lebron knowing he was getting finals money games and world class brand association doesnt want to keep that going for him
Or the pelicans when AD had his best playoffs, said Rondo was the difference, Rondo said he wants to run it back…they then go and replace him and cheap out to get Elfrid Payton bc his box score PER 36 was similar ….and AD gets the blame and knows it…yea he might want to goto a franchise that shows up for him as well
Or Tillman when the rockets were rolling with Harden and Paul…people make it about the westbrook trade, but all the players made it about Trevor Ariza. The glue guy, cohesion, similar to rondo things you can’t really measure in both experience, defense, leadership to be a contender and they didnt pay the tax for one year
so dolan pays up and i’d take that,and he also is sensitive and over reaching…both are true but overall a net positive vs the owners who won’t pay…their fundamental main purpose
That is the one good thing about Dolan that Knicks fans universally acknowledge. He’ll always pay and isn’t afraid of luxury tax. He has also taken a step back since Leon Rose took over, and the results speak for themselves. Everything else…yeah still absolute horseshit
Finally. After decades of meddling and fucking shit up. I remember renaldo balkman.
not all billionaires are the same. ballmer got the cash on hand. others not so much.
But some of them only have hundreds of millions 😢
The old NBA owners (as in purchased teams decades ago) are in the business of making money. The new owners want to win and that’s why they spend
They should force an owner to sell every 4 years like the hunger games
It’s awesome when owners are actually passionate about the teams they own. Jerry Reinsdorf would never…dude would give up all 6 championships for 1 white sox championship.
It’s amazing what he has done for the clippers. Gave them a new identity and top tier stadium in LA, mostly self financed. Giving more money for the LA fires as well. Let the man grab all the thighs lol.
I appreciate that he uses his money to fund what is essentially a passion project instead of being comically evil like other billionaires
This is what rich people used to be pressured to do. Giving to the public as an act of goodwill so they don’t resent them. Now they don’t even have do that, poor people just dickride them for no reason.
R/nba Just loves getting facials by these billionaire guys.
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-billionaire-playbook-how-sports-owners-use-their-teams-to-avoid-millions-in-taxes
And Reinsdorf is bad for the NBA. 😑
Ballmer actually cares about the Clippers, while Reinsdorf views the Bulls as a money printing machine. Yeah he fucking sucks
Also, gotta give props to Matt ishiba for making price more reasonable for regular viewers
Red Auerbach would not approve
No cold tubs, but he definitely had cold showers.
My favourite Red story is that before an NBA finals game against the St Louis Hawks, the Hawks owner went up to him because Red was complaining that the rim wasn’t 10 feet. Kerner, the Hawks owner, went over to tell him to stop complaining and Red just socked the owner in the nose and bloodied him up. Then the Hawks owner went to sit down, they played the game and Red just got fined when it was all said and done.
Imagine if Mazulla today punched Ballmer in the face before a game. It would be bedlam. The early NBA was built different.
So the real question is this: which of today’s coaches are most likely to punch an owner in the face? Pre-stroke, I prob would go Pop.
Pop is sassy but I’m not sure he has the anger for it.
Mazzulla is definitely a prime candidate.
Quin Snyder seems more likely to use a laser beam while you’re tied to a table as he delivers a long speech.
Udoka could definitely do it.
Doug Christie would actually ask the owner to hit him, and then hand him a whip and ask him to use that too.
Steve Kerr wouldn’t do it but he would look the other way while an assistant does and then say he didn’t see the tape in the press conference afterwards.
Spo would just get Riles to order a hit.
Jason Kidd would totally hit an owner if they happened to be a woman
Good thing he’s not in LA anymore
Because he’d have a protegé in Jaxson Hayes?
I’m glad I’m not the only one who remembers Doug Christie lore
I still remember that post on here in like 2015 or so and thought it was a shit post lol. But nah, Christie had like a whole photoshoot of him wearing a leash or something
I think it was like a pilot for a TV series but I could be wrong. 10 years is a long time
Weren’t he and his wife on a reality show?
They could very well be it. It was so shocking to me reading that thread because I remembered Christie being a tough guy, dawg type player and the realization that he was the exact opposite outside of basketball threw me for a loop.
Only thing I really remember about him is that his wife used to travel with the team because she was paranoid about infidelity.
…as he delivers a long speech.
“It’s called a monologue.” - Quin Snyder, stroking a white cat that’s sitting in his lap
“Oh yeah. I’d hit that.” - Ime Udoka, in a variety of situations
Doug will throw a punch though
https://cdn.nba.com/teams/legacy/www.nba.com/kings/sites/kings/files/solidreliablebeagle-max-1mb.gif
Steve Kerr punched MJ in the face. Pretty sure he’d punch an owner
Pretty sure Steve Kerr was the one who got punched by MJ
Punched him in the chest actually but I could maybe see it
100% he totally gives Bond villain vibes
Kerr would get punched by another coach
If Mazzulla ever gets his coin wish, then it’d be him
No owner would accept a coin
Tom Thibodeau wouldn’t actually hit the other coach but would stare at him so hard it would make him faint
Mazulla would spend a coin there no doubt
Red was mobbed up so made sense that the owner just took the punch instead of ending up in a river.
In fairness, free agency wasn’t a thing until 1976.
I go with Jordan’s philosophy on this one.
Don’t make your opponents uncomfortable and agitated. Make them comfortable and soft.
I disagree. Red would’ve started making the vistor locker rooms cozy and pampering visiting players years before Cuban did if he was still in his prime, which is why he has 17 rings.
Sometimes I dream that Steve Ballmer is my owner and we still have KAT.
Then I wake up and remember we have the crypt keeper as an owner.
I thought the courts were still deciding who your owner is?
Yeah, I’m equally excited for the chance of the serial adulterer / notorious on-field cheater who has multiple paintings of himself as a centaur hanging over his bed.
He’s who you want in your corner if an Ant PED scandal ever emerges though
who has multiple paintings of himself as a centaur hanging over his bed.
wut
Sometimes I dream that Steve Ballmer is my owner
Owning people was forbidden centuries ago
From how it’s looking, there might be something like that developing over the next four years.
It was the CBA that caused that
That’s gotta be tough how yall were this close 🤏 to being rid of him and he changed his mind.
I sympathize, I watched a lot of Donald Sterling clippers teams…
UFC had an event there this past weekend. Seemed like a cool venue.
Some of the visuals were cool as hell, and the card delivered too.
That Jiri/Jamahal fight was something else
Jamahal put on a show but Jiri showed everyone what’s up. Hell of a co-main too, with a great comeback from Merab after being down 2-0. Hell of a night in general.
Also the venue during the prelims looked cool as hell, with the lights covering up for the empty seats before they got filled.
Best card/presentation in a long while
For real, it blew The Sphere or The Dome or whatever they call it out of the water.
…what are you talking about, you thought the sphere was less impressive visually than the intuit dome? For the fights sure, main looked perfectly fine tho, but how tf did you find the visuals less impressive than the intuit done.
Yeah that place needs to be used for their bigger name events for sure. The screen was cool and made it feel grand.
Ah damn. I forgot about that … was excited to see how the experience looked during different events there
Also had Netflix debut of WWE. Really looks state of the art!
Clippers will be a very attractive free agent destination
It feels like there is a post about the dome every day.
I think it is cool to see more highlights of their stadium. I’d rather this than debates about rings or who was the most dominant player
Wait till we start discussing top 5 arenas
Gilbert better be on that list
He’d be number 0.
What if I told you Golden 1 is on that list
What is known aint got to be said, the beam will not be denied
…Tah Fi
I was watching the Lakers game and it felt like the crowd matched the atmosphere of a Duke Basketball game.
More owners need to follow in Ballmer’s stead
Clippers got shitted on so much for decades
Glad to see Steve is helping their reputation and positive stuff is going their way
I feel like NBA fans at large think it’s cool but I’ve read complaints about the prices from Clippers fans
i guess that comes with the territory when the team moves to LA
Prices were really high at first, but I’m finding resale tix to be more reasonable now. A little higher, which is to be expected, but not astronomical.
I’m sure normal seat prices and season tix jumped up over Staples prices.
Clippers fans used to have very cheap tickets back in The Crypt, so the price adjustment may be a bit steep for some
They’re pretty cheap now mid season. I paid $50 yesterday for suite tickets
Took me a second to figure out what the hell “The Crypt” was. Please never call Staples Center that again
I personally prefer “The Crypt” over it’s actual name though. I can settle for Staples Center.
I sat in the 7th row for 70\( last night. Probably cus bulls, but awesome experience either way. Parking was \)60 though 🤣
If we’re gonna have billionaire weirdos owning these teams they should spend like Ballmer and Ishbia
Ishbia has been the dream owner except for the time when he masqueraded as GM to trade for Beal.
He’s a terrible owner bot because he’s cheap, but because he’s meddling, which arguably is even a bigger problem.
Vivek sends his regards
I can honestly see Lonzo signing with the Clippers next season. But their guard position is pretty stacked with Bones still wanting to get minutes. But I think Zo would compliment Harden/Kawhi(Also Powell) well and that would be fun to watch.
But their guard position is pretty stacked with Bones still wanting to get minutes.
Imagine how bad he must be, with Kevin Porter Jr. getting minutes ahead of him
I hope we just re-sign him tbh. He will generate a lot more trade value next year i bet
Would love to see him take a one year get healthy and prove it deal with one of the LA home teams or Charlotte
really his skill set, the way he moves the ball, sees the court, plays d can help any team. If he does get fully healthy and some athleticism and comfort back he’ll earn a bigger contract. he is a winning style player
Sign and trade Zo for Bones?
Bones can’t even get mins over Kevin Porter Jr
I think it’ll be easy for him to beat out Kris Dunn and KPJ
I don’t think we can handle another guy that can be out for the season at a moment’s notice
Lonzo’s long enough he can guard 3’s and play alongside Powell. Only thing is Kawhi would have to bang with 4s for the season
He should come to the Dubs
It’s also an awesome viewing experience. Plus they have every CA high school’s basketball jersey hanging on the first floor of the arena.
Spent like 15 minutes walking around with my neck craned up looking for mine and didn’t find it, gotta lock in harder next time haha
The app actually has a map and you can search. Found mine pretty quickly.
I wish I knew this before taking forever to find mine
I can’t find it anywhere on the app. Where do you go to search for your high school?
It’s in the intuit dome app, but the poster below me is right it just takes you to this link: https://icy-sand-07cdaa61e.5.azurestaticapps.net/#/Search
It’s not on the app you have to scan a QR code on the wall and it takes you to a search site
Keep an eye out for a small jersey icon on the walls that let you scan a QR code I think with your phone. Might just be tap I forget. But then you can search for any school by name and it’ll tell you what section that jersey is in. If you walk around enough you should see one like 1 every 4-5 sections that let you scan.
Dang how many jerseys is there got to be thousands unless I’m missing something
There’s like 1600 … it’s a bit overwhelming lol
That’s insane omg
Any pictures of this?
Every reporting I’ve read of Ballmer wrt the NBA is positive.
Lonzo’s knees approved ✅
The old Boston Garden had the heating off in the away players room, and all kinds of things to make it uncomfortable. Anything to get an edge.
If anything that might make teams focus more on the game compared to a cushy setup with TVs and catered food where it’s easy to relax and get distracted before a game
Wholesome Ballmer taking care of Balls
Lonzo and Melo talk very differently. I’m not going to try to imagine how Melo would have phrased it but it would have been much less coherent.
Melo still talks like a high schooler lol.
You would never be able to guess where he grew up if you didn’t know anything about him if you only heard him talk
In a different universe Lonzo stayed healthy and became a superstar. Most likeable of the three brothers.
Also the most talented.
I wouldn’t say the most talented, I think has the higher bbiq
Not sure that’s true on talent.
I downvote links to twitter
More rich people should be like Ballmer and Cuban.
What if it was called the Inuit Dome and it was a giant igloo? That would be cool I think
“Don’t get used to it bitch” - Jerry
No x.com links anymore please.
As many have pointed out, great long term business decision.
Steve Ballmer built a beautiful arena that everyone who visits thinks is amazing, and best of all he did it without using taxpayer money or threatening to move the team if the city didn’t help fund it, huge W tbh
Home team gets hookers and blow.
I gotta check out that stadium. Hear nothing but great things!
Fucking with the opponent was a much different game when you knew they were gonna play regardless. Now youve got to make guys want to play in your arena
I fucking hate Jerry Krause
That’s a nice touch, good to see thoughtfulness for visiting teams!
I thought Lamelo would end up on the Clippers one day but it might be his brother instead
lamelo gonna look good in a clip uniform in the future
Balmer buy the lakers and merge the teams.
He didn’t do that at Microsoft but he does for unionized workforces hmmm???
Who is Poe?
I read “Inuit Dome” and wondered why they didn’t just call it “The Igloo”.
And people wondered why I was so bummed that Ballmer couldn’t be an owner in Seattle. The guy is an absolute madman and will do anything to win. He’s by far the richest owner and literally nothing was off the table.