The Sixers have been minding their own business this summer.
We touched on that earlier this week as players from one Eastern Conference contender after another opened up about how their respective teams were going to reach the NBA Finals (see story).
That's fine. You would expect those squads to feel confident in their ability, especially now that the conference's boogie man, LeBron James, has moved on to Hollywood.
But then the Sixers had a grenade lobbed their way from an unlikely source.
Speaking at an event dubbed "The Playbook," essentially a pep rally for LA Clippers fans to speak with members of the front office, owner Steve Ballmer assured supporters in the crowd that the franchise wasn't going to adopt a tanking method to get back in contention like the Sixers.
"That ain't us. Nuh-uh, no way," Ballmer said, per the Los Angeles Times. "People can do it their way. We're going to be good our way. We're not going to show up and suck for a year, two years. I think we got higher expectations on us than the long, hard five, six years of absolute crap like the 76ers put in. How could we look you guys in the eye if we did that to you?"
Wow, OK.
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Let's look at the fact that the Sixers' history, which includes three championships and a laundry list of some of the game's all-time greats, provided the organization with the leeway to undertake such a massive overhaul in a promise to reclaim the glory days.
The Clippers, on the other hand, have just 13 playoff appearances in their 48-year history and zero titles.
But this isn't to beat up on the Clippers. They had to dig themselves out of the mess former owner Donald Sterling created and it can't be easy always operating in the "Showtime" shadow cast by the Lakers.
This is more about what exactly Ballmer has accomplished - or hasn't accomplished - in his brief time running a franchise to take a shot at the Sixers from across the country.
Since paying $2 billion for the Clippers prior to the start of the 2014-15 season (one year after the Sixers started "The Process"), the team has actually taken a wrong turn. In that '14-15 campaign, they won 56 games and reached the Western Conference semifinals. The 2015-16 season produced 53 wins and a first-round exit. In 2016-17, LA registered 51 victories before bowing out in the first round again. Last season, the Clippers had a 42-40 record (two of those losses came to the Sixers) and missed the postseason.
Plus, in just the past calendar year under Ballmer's watch, the Clips have lost their big three of Chris Paul (trade), Blake Griffin (trade) and DeAndre Jordan (free agent).
That doesn't exactly scream team on the rise.
Ballmer may indeed have a plan to make sure the Clippers get back in the hunt. After all, he does have respected basketball minds Jerry West and Lawrence Frank handling front-office business and Doc Rivers still orchestrating things on the sidelines. And L.A., while now missing its star trio, does have some intriguing players on the roster that could surprise a few people.
Still, that collection was projected by ESPN to finish with a 35-47 record in 2018-19 and miss the playoffs again in the stacked Western Conference.
With the Clippers staring a decline right in the face and the Sixers boasting two franchise cornerstones in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons along with other solid pieces from Sam Hinkie's process, it appears a bit misguided for Ballmer to take such a swipe.
Ballmer might not want the Clippers to tank under his leadership. The thing is, the organization might be forced into that method regardless.
