The Los Angeles Clippers are sliding fast, and their five-game losing streak has left the franchise searching for answers.
But according to owner Steve Ballmer, there’s no mystery about where the responsibility lies and who could fix things for the Clippers.
Steve Ballmer Points to Ty Lue, Lawrence Frank To Fix Clippers’ Woes
Ballmer made it clear that the job of fixing the team’s collapse rests squarely on head coach Tyronn Lue and team president Lawrence Frank.
With the season unraveling and the pressure rising, the Clippers’ leadership now finds itself in the spotlight.
According to The Athletic’s Law Murray, Ballmer stays in regular contact with Lue and Frank regarding the direction of the team, but he emphasized that the job to turn it around is on Lue and Frank.
“Ballmer told The Athletic that he speaks with [Tyronn] Lue and basketball president Lawrence Frank about how to turn things around,” Clippers insider Murray wrote. “Ballmer also made it clear that the job to turn it around is on Lue and Frank.
“Only five teams have started 5-15 or worse and made the playoffs since the field expanded to 16 teams for the 1983-84 season. But one of those teams was a 4-16 Pelicans team that knocked the Clippers out of the Play-In Tournament in 2022.”
It’s a blunt message at a time when the Clippers are sinking deeper into the Western Conference standings, and historical odds are stacked heavily against them.
The Clippers’ situation feels even more dire because there has been almost no sign of progress.
Their 140–123 loss to the Miami Heat on Dec. 1 echoed the same problems that have plagued them over their previous four games: a simplistic, stagnant offense and a defense that has fallen off a cliff.
Clippers Have No Answers for Their Collapse
The Clippers opened the season amid a Kawhi Leonard salary-cap circumvention controversy. They started 3-2, but early inconsistency and mounting injuries quickly shifted the mood.
They have won only two of their last 16 games, and Saturday’s 114–110 loss to a shorthanded Mavericks team underscored just how far they’ve fallen.
The Mavs played without Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, and PJ Washington — yet rookie Cooper Flagg lit up the Clippers for a historic 35-point performance.
Even Lue’s postgame assessment was strikingly minimal. “Got to play better,” he said. That was the extent of the explanation.
The problems run deeper than effort. The Clippers rank No. 25 in defensive rating, a shocking drop for a team that was among the league leaders last season.
They have struggled without Leonard, who has appeared in only 11 games this season, as they don’t have the depth that once stepped up during his absences.
With defensive breakdowns mounting, no offensive identity, and no clarity from Lue on how to stop the bleeding, the Clippers have reached a point where a turnaround seems increasingly unlikely.
