Steve Ballmer Thought About Changing Clippers Name

The Clippers owner has given a name change some thought.

One of the biggest questions the Clippers will face when entering their new arena is if they should change the team's name. It's a question that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has given some thought in the past.

Steve Ballmer touched on that, and a variety of other topics, in an interview with the LA Times. 

“I thought about it, you’ve got to think about it,” Ballmer said about changing the Clippers name. “When I first got the team, I thought about it in the sense, ‘Is the brand tarnished?’ ... But the brand is better known because it is tarnished. ‘But is it tarnished?’”

It looks like Ballmer may be done thinking about changing the Clippers name. What he's focused on now, is getting a championship. He knows there's going to be a huge backlash from Clipper fans if he does change the name.

"But we’re through all that, our Clipper loyalists won’t want us to change the name of this thing, there’s no push for that," Ballmer said to the LA Times. "I’m hopeful we’re going to win a championship with that name in the next few years. Why walk away from that?”

That creates another question though, "What if the Clippers don't win a championship by the time they move to the Intuit Dome?" If the Clippers don't win a championship by 2024, then it may be time to truly revisit a name change again. It may be time to truly look at a complete rebranding. At that point, the name Clipper will start becoming synonymous with underachieving. With having some of the best rosters in the NBA, but always coming up short.

What do you think?