There's a specific grin you see on someone's face when they know they're doing something wrong that they won't be punished for; a kind of shameless "teehee I'm going to get away with this, aren't I?" look. You know, this look:
Hilarious quote but it's the grin that's really getting me pic.twitter.com/OGAQ7NhMCW
— Oliver Fox (@oliversfox) October 22, 2026
I imagine Steve Ballmer himself donned that look many times when he funneled tens of millions of dollars around the salary cap to Kawhi Leonard, believing all the while that he was doing what was necessary to secure the future of the Los Angeles Clippers, as he had invested so much in its fancy-shmancy new arena. He was being careful enough not to be caught in the act and "tee-hee, I'm going to get away with this, aren't I?"
He didn't, but Tyronn Lue knows who still writes the checks; presumably set on being the head coach of the Clippers for the rest of time, Lue dedicated the Clippers' opening night win over the Sacramento Kings to Ballmer, the individual most responsible for the betrayal of an entire fanbase and the ensuing decade of irrelevance for a team destined forever to be in the shadow of the Lakers. And he did so with that look on his face.
We all make cynical business decisions. We say what we know those who hold the keys to our success want to hear because we must; but Tyronn Lue openly flaunting that the Clippers organization still holds themselves aloof from the findings of the NBA's investigation is a further smack across the face of their fans — "we're still fighting for him?" What, was he wrongly accused of some heinous crime? Ballmer accepted responsibility and declined to pursue legal action!
Lue's comments are insensitive to the real harm Ballmer's actions did
What this probably is, honestly, is a shot across the bow at Kawhi Leonard and his camp, who got off mostly scot-free from this whole saga while the Clippers and Ballmer received a full broadside and the weight of everything the NBA could dream and were made a true example of. As many in NBA media pointed out, off-the-books privileges are not uncommon for NBA superstars; "oh, yeah, your family can use that suite, oh yeah, you are your friends can use my private jet." It's just that what the Clippers did was ... uh, just laundering money around the cap. Ballmer essentially Venmoed Kawhi, but only Ballmer was seriously punished ... Leonard just got traded to the Toronto Raptors.
Lue should not have said that, nor should the Clippers walk around at any point in the next decade as if they didn't do anything and it was all some funny story we can all look back at and laugh — I feel legitimately bad for people in the Clippers organization, because the actions of Ballmer and few malevolent higher-ups destroyed what many hardworking people were trying to build, Tyronn Lue included. So no, they should not still be fighting for Steve Ballmer. They're welcome to fight, but let's give Steve the year off.
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