Los Angeles Clippers Owner, Steve Ballmer, “Hated” Losing Paul George In Free Agency

Steve Ballmer has seen a lot of success in his life. He recently surpassed Bill Gates (his former boss) as the sixth wealthiest person in the world. He’s also seen a decent amount of success in the NBA, where he’s been the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers since 2014. Under his ownership, the Clippers have made the playoffs eight times, finishing with a winning record in every season. However, the NBA’s most recent free agency period did not go Ballmer’s way.

Most notably, Paul George left the Clippers to sign a four-year, $212 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. And while Ballmer decided to express himself as he gave reporters a final preview of his state of the art Intuit Dome, he let out some of the frustration he’s been harboring over Paul George’s departure:

"I love Paul, Ballmer said. Paul is a great human being and I've really enjoyed my opportunity to get to know Paul's family. So on a personal level, I hated it. I hated it. From a basketball perspective, Paul is a fantastic player, future Hall of Famer. But we knew we needed to continue to get better. And with the new CBA, what tools, what flexibility [can be restricted], we made Paul what I consider a great offer. But it was a great offer in terms of us thinking about how to win championships. It wasn't what Paul wanted."

And to think just five short years ago, THIS, was Steve Ballmer: