Steve, Connie Ballmer Pledge $25 Million in aid amid Coronavirus Crisis

L.A. Clippers Chairman Steve Ballmer and his wife, Connie, are donating $25 million to help fight the spread of the coronavirus.

Just a few days after purchasing The Forum for $400 million in cash, L.A. Clippers Chairman Steve Ballmer and his wife, Connie, are pledging $25 million to fight back against the spread of COVID-19. 

According to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk, the money will go to Seattle, Washington, Southeast Michigan, and Los Angeles, California. $10 million is being given to the University of Washington Medicine's Emergency Response Fund to speed up testing for a potential coronavirus vaccine. 

The Ballmer Group's donation comes at a crucial time for Americans, as the United States currently has over 100,000 confirmed cases of the virus — more than any other country in the world. 

The spread isn't slowing down, either. There were roughly 85,000 cases in the United States yesterday. More and more states are being forced to go on lockdown, allowing only essential travel. 

With the donation, Ballmer joins a growing number of NBA players, coaches and executives that have made an effort to slow down the spread of COVID-19. Joel Embiid is one of the most recent players to take a stand, pledging $500,000 and offering to help Philadelphia 76ers employees that have been affected by the NBA hiatus. 

As the situation grows worse, it's looking less likely the NBA season will resume soon — if at all. A May return still pushes the playoffs back quite a bit, which could result in the 2020-2021 season starting a few months later than usual.

In any case, it's important to stay home, wash your hands and be smart amid the crisis.