Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer Wants His Team to Use Only Microsoft Products
What Microsoft device will the team replace them with?
— -- You can take the man out of Microsoft but you can't take Microsoft out of the man.
Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, who is now enjoying a second act as the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, wants to make sure his team is loyal to the company that made him a billionaire. That means ditching their iPads -- an Apple product.
"Most of the Clippers are on Windows, some of the players and coaches are not," Ballmer said in an interview with Reuters.
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The team's head coach, Doc Rivers, knows how Ballmer feels about having the team using Microsoft products.
"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.' But I promised we would do it during the off season," Ballmer told Reuters.
While it was unclear what Ballmer hoped to switch the Clippers to after weaning them off their iPads, it's a safe bet that Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 would be considered as a possible replacement.
The lightweight device comes with a 12-inch display and the versatility to be used as both a tablet and a laptop replacement. At $799, it's more expensive than an iPad, but Ballmer, who is the largest individual shareholder in Microsoft, can certainly afford it.
The tech titan snagged the team in May in a deal that was finalized for $2 billion.
In August, he made his debut as the team's owner at the Staples Center, where he showed off his trademark enthusiasm, high-fiving fans, clapping and shouting until he was nearly hoarse.