Steve Ballmer was introduced to Clippers' fans today at a rally celebrating his purchase of the team from Donald and Shelly Sterling for a record $2 billion. And he was quite electrified, to say the least.
The former Microsoft CEO entered the rally to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" and exchanged enlivened high fives and chest pumps with fans in attendance.
Ballmer was not short of confidence at the rally either, promising LA fans ''many, many, many'' NBA titles during his tenure.
"We're going to be bold. Bold means taking chances," he said. "We're going to be optimistic. We're going to be hard-core. Nothing gets in our way, boom! The hard-core Clippers, that's us."
The 58-year old ensured that the team will not move to Seattle, the city Ballmer resides in. He almost bought the Sacramento Kings last year, but was denied by other league owners due to his desires to move the Kings to Seattle.
He also gave out his email address, [email protected], to the fans on a jumbotron, no doubt adding extra duty for his assistant who will have to deal with thousands of daily emails now.
Doc Rivers, the Clippers head coach and president of basketball operations, along with players Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, and DeAndre Jordan and five others were among team personnel in attendence.
"When he came through the crowd, I literally had goose bumps," Griffin said afterward. "I don't know if there's one good word to describe him. I know all our guys are excited about the energy he brings. It's completely different."
Please enjoy this video of Ballmer's entrance via Arash Markazi.