Steve Ballmer is no longer head honcho at Microsoft, but the Windows maker's former CEO proves to be extremely loyal to his old company.
Ballmer, who now owns the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, has some big plans for the lesser known L.A. team, including, naturally, winning the championships at the National Basketball Association. But perhaps a dream much closer to reality is that of turning the Clippers into a Microsoft organization.
In an interview with Reuters, Ballmer said the Clippers, which he bought for $2 billion, will likely not be using their iPads in court soon. It's no surprise, since Ballmer is known to be a staunch Microsoft loyalist, even expressly prohibiting his family from using Apple products.
"Most of the Clippers are on Windows, some of the players and coaches are not," he said.
"And Doc kind of knows that's a project," Ballmer added, referring to Doc Rivers, who signed on to be coach for the next five years. "It's one of the first things he said to me: 'We are probably going to get rid of these iPads, aren't we?' And I said, 'Yeah, we probably are.'"
Ballmer did say, however, that the Clippers will be saying goodbye to their iPads off season, which means the team can still use their Apple tablets until next summer. A source also tells the LA Times that the ex-Microsoft chief will most likely not ban players from using their iPhones for personal use, "though it probably wouldn't be wise to whip out an iPhone at team headquarters."
The Clippers switching over from iPads to Surfaces could be potentially lucrative for Microsoft, as it's not uncommon for technology companies to sign on to partnerships with sports associations. In fact, Microsoft had already struck a $400 billion deal with the National Football League to provide Surface tablets to coaches, players and referees to use to study strategies and opponents' moves during games. The NBA, however, may be a little more difficult for Microsoft to penetrate, as Samsung had already scored a three-year agreement to provide Samsung tablets and TVs in exchange for creating NBA content customized for Samsung devices and, of course, the brand exposure that Samsung receives.
Unfortunately for Samsung, Microsoft and the rest of the technology world trying to catch up with Apple's iPads, ESPN announcers cannot seem to tell the difference between iPads and other devices, as they keep on referring to them as "iPads" and "iPad-like tools." Don't be surprised if Ballmer directs his wrath at the commentators if this happens during a Clippers game.
