"We still have 2 HOF" - Steve Ballmer lays out championship ambitions for Clippers post losing Paul George & Russell Westbrook

LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer isn't losing faith in his team after losing Paul George and trading away Russell Westbrook. The team will look differently next season as Kawhi Leonard and James Harden will be the only star players left. Sportskeeda's Mark Medina asked Ballmer about his thoughts on LA's chances next season on Friday, July 19.

George has left his hometown of Los Angeles and signed a four-year, $212 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. The nine-time All-Star played five seasons with Leonard, averaging 23 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He was selected to three All-Star appearances with the Clippers but never had much success in the postseason.

As for Westbrook, he played a season and a half for the team after a bumpy ride with the LA Lakers. His time with the team wasn't as decorated as his other stints as he transitioned to becoming a bench contributor. Last season, he spent most of the time being the team's sixth man, averaging 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

Despite losing two key players in free agency, Ballmer believes his team can still compete in the Western Conference.

"The west is tough, it's gonna be competitive," Ballmer said. "But we still have two Hall of Famers, MVP and Finals MVP on our team. Let's face it, most people would be salivating to have that on their team and we have a lot of good--great players, actually to fill in, play defense, play tough, guys we picked up."

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The team added quality role players over the summer. They acquired Kris Dunn after trading Westbrook to the Utah Jazz. They also signed Kevin Porter Jr. and Derrick Jones Jr. this summer. LA and Nicolas Batum reunited after the French veteran signed with the team. They also secured their frontcourt depth by signing Mo Bamba.

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Clippers owner shows off a unique feature on the Inuit Dome

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The 2024-25 NBA season will be a special one for the Clippers as they will finally have their own home. They will no longer share an arena with the Lakers and move to the Inuit Dome, which was constructed in Inglewood, California. The arena is set to open on August 15 to prepare for the new season.

Ballmer recently showed off the features of the arena with guard Terance Mann. The owner showed off the arena's Halo Board, a bigger and improved in-arena screen. One interesting feature of the Halo Board is that it can reach every seat when launching t-shirts for the fans.

The former executive of Microsoft thinks the regular t-shirt cannons are unfair as not every fan can get a freebie. This is why they made it better and had all spaces covered with the arena's Halo Board.

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Fans are now excited to see what else the arena has to offer as they open next season.

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