[Murray] Ballmer told The Athletic that he speaks with Lue and basketball president Lawrence Frank about how to turn things around. Ballmer also made it clear that the job to turn it around is on Lue and Frank.
The Clippers were embarrassed by a Denver Nuggets team that ended their season. They were embarrassed by a Thunder team that owns their 2026 first-round pick. They were embarrassed by a Lakers team that they share the city with. Lue suggested that “Next Man Up” is more difficult when a two-way contract is replacing Kawhi Leonard, but his team blew huge leads at home to teams starting Keaton Wallace in place of Trae Young and Vince Williams in place of Ja Morant. When the Clippers are down more than 15 points, they stay down; they are 0-10 when they trail by more than 15, a far cry from Clippers teams that used to hit comebacks.
Ballmer told The Athletic that he speaks with Lue and basketball president Lawrence Frank about how to turn things around. Ballmer also made it clear that the job to turn it around is on Lue and Frank. Only five teams have started 5-15 or worse and made the playoffs since the field expanded to 16 teams for the 1983-84 season. But one of those teams was a 4-16 Pelicans team that knocked the Clippers out of the Play-In Tournament in 2022.
That precedent is about the only hope the Clippers have, and they are being led by a group of stars and a head coach who have never been down this bad.