Bill Simmons of The Ringer put together a pyramid that shows the worst NBA owners of the last 30 years, with 10 total names on four rungs reflecting their incompetence.
Who are the worst NBA team owners of the past 30 years?@BillSimmons presents the NBA worst owners mini-pyramid. pic.twitter.com/bRvQoEEQDp
— The Ringer (@ringer) April 1, 2024
Unsurprisingly, former Clippers owner Donald Sterling was at the top, followed by former Suns owner Robert Sarver and former Hornets/Pelicans owner George Shinn on the second rung.
“Donald Sterling’s the worst. He has to be first. You go down to the second level; I think it’s Robert Sarver and George Shinn. Two guys who basically had to lose their teams. Sarver had to sell the team and cheaper out during the Steve Nash era. No Phoenix fan is going, ‘Man, I loved having Robert Sarver as the owner.’ He has to be second. George Shinn owned that Charlotte team and had two sex scandals. Basically had to move the team because Charlotte was like, ‘You gotta get the f**k out of here,’ and moved the team to New Orleans.”
Simmons then elaborated on his third level of owners, which includes the legendary Michael Jordan along with incumbent Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, and the man responsible for Seattle no longer having an NBA team, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.
“Level 3 is three names, Glen Taylor and Michael Jordan, who owned Charlotte, and nothing good happened the entire time he was there. Literally nothing. And then Howard Schultz, who owned the Seattle SuperSonics and sold them to an ownership group that he knew would move them to Oklahoma City. He has to be in the top six because he’s directly responsible for the team leaving.”
Simmons also names the likes of former Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, current Pistons owner Tom Gores, current Wizards owner Ted Leonisis, and current Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
Prokharov’s tenure in the NBA was a disaster marked by the trades for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce that essentially built the modern-day Celtics atop the NBA standings. Gores and Leonisis are overseeing directionless franchises who are perennial underachievers, while Simmons criticized Jerry Reinsdorf’s penny-pinching holding the Bulls back from success.
Donald Sterling Was The Obvious No. 1 Choice
Donald Sterling’s placement atop the pyramid is more than justified. After all, he’s the only team owner that the league placed a lifetime ban on, allowing the Clippers to be bought by Steve Ballmer, who’s arguably one of the best owners in the NBA right now.
Sterling had many lewd stories about his interests and how he used his profile as an NBA owner to host parties and social gatherings that made some people uncomfortable. He was forced to sell the team for outwardly racist comments against Magic Johnson as he was admonishing a girl he was entangling with for taking a picture with a Black man like Johnson.
These comments, along with many others, were leaked and caused an uproar in the NBA. His own players were willing to boycott a playoff game if the league didn’t step in. Adam Silver had just taken the reins of the league as Commissioner from David Stern, making this his first major decision in charge. He decided to ban Sterling for life, an unprecedented move that players and the media hailed.
The Clippers are in a much better situation now, with the team already achieving more success in the 10 years under Steve Ballmer than they did in 33 years under Sterling.
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