Who Owns the Clippers?

Clippers ownership history is short, strange, and central to understanding the franchise. Here is the whole chain.

The owners, in order

• Paul Snyder (1970 to 1976). The founding owner in Buffalo, who built the promising McAdoo-era Braves and then sold.
• John Y. Brown (1976 to 1978). The fried chicken magnate who stripped the roster, traded Bob McAdoo, and then executed the only franchise-for-franchise swap in American sports history, trading the Braves to Irv Levin for the Boston Celtics.
• Irv Levin (1978 to 1981). The Californian who moved the team to San Diego and gave it the Clippers name.
• Donald Sterling (1981 to 2014). Thirty-three years, three playoff series wins, countless league-worst payrolls, and a lifetime ban. The defining fact of the franchise's dark ages.
• Steve Ballmer (2014 to now). The most enthusiastic owner in professional sports, the two billion dollar bet, and the man who built the Intuit Dome with his own money.

The week that changed everything

In April 2014, during a first round series against Golden State, recordings surfaced of Sterling making racist comments. The players protested by wearing their warmups inside out at center court. Sponsors fled. Within days, new commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life and began forcing a sale. By August, Ballmer had won the bidding at a price nobody thought an NBA team could command. It turned out to be a bargain.

What Ballmer changed

Basically everything except the banner count. The Clippers went from the league's cheapest operation to one of its most aggressive spenders: a top-tier practice facility, the largest trade package ever assembled to land Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and a two billion dollar privately financed arena in Inglewood. He also renovated hundreds of public basketball courts across Los Angeles County through his foundation, which is the kind of fact this site exists to keep on the record. Whatever happens on the court, the era of the franchise beating itself is over.