About this episode
In honor of start of NBA playoffs, Ben & David venture off the beaten path to explore one of Steve Ballmer’s most famous acquisitions, his 2014 purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA franchise. Was this landmark purchase a steal or a turnover for the former Microsoft CEO? We speculate wildly! Sponsors: Rippling: https://bit.ly/acquiredrippling Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25 Odd Lots: https://bit.ly/acquiredoddlots ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn More Acquired! Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes Join the Slack Subscribe to ACQ2 Merch Store ! © Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC Topics covered include: The Clippers’ founding in 1970 as the NBA expansion team the Buffalo Braves Early ownership changes and the move west to San Diego in 1981 Acquisition in 1981 by LA lawyer and real estate developer Donald Sterling for $12.5M Sterling's relocation of the Clippers to LA in 1984 against NBA rules Struggles over the next 25 years as the "worst franchise in professional sports” according to ESPN Turnaround beginning in early 2010s led by Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Paul The bombshell in April 2014, reported by TMZ, of a taped conversation between Sterling and his mistress where Sterling makes hugely offensive and racist comments , directed in particular toward former Lakers point guard Magic Johnson Fallout from the comments, resulting in a lifetime ban from NBA for Sterling, and a forced sale of the team to former Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer for $2B Impact of the landmark sale price on NBA and other sports franchise valuations Clippers performance post-sale, and prospects for the future The opportunity for technology and business model innovation in the NBA, and professional sports in general Followups: Instagram Stories passes 200 million users per day (including correction on the definition of DAU) The Last Jedi trailer ! Clarifying Starbucks’ same store sales performance post-IPO The Carve Out: Ben: Bill Gurley on This Week in Startups David: Pop, Race & the '60s podcast and Just Around Midnight by Jack Hamilton