Clippers Hit Rock Bottom, Hand Victory Away After Complete Blunder
All the money in the world can't buy Steve Ballmer a good NBA team.
The 2025 Clippers are a disaster, and they're inventing new ways to lose NBA games.
Down 114-111 against Houston on Thursday night, facing eight seconds left, LA needed a quick inbound.
Instead came the unthinkable: No one in a Clippers uniform was interested in grabbing the inbound on the potential game-tying possession.
James Harden (paid $39.18M this season) was glued to the court, waiting for Kawhi Leonard to come up for Al Horford's pass, even though Harden was the closest player to the inbounder.
A basic play stunted LA, leaving Horford waiting with the ball for five seconds, resulting in a turnover that cost them a chance for a tie.
Everyone was confused, except for Rockets fans cheering the embarrassing miscue. It was the NBA equivalent of the infamous Pat McAfee fake punt fail.
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The locker room mess, with high-paid stars seemingly giving up, was on clear display Thursday night. And Houston won 115-113.
It's been a season worth forgetting for the Clippers, well before the All-Star Break.
The Clippers' recent, ugly divorce with franchise legend Chris Paul further humiliated the franchise and damaged their reputation among fans. Coach Ty Lue's explanation, that the pairing "wasn’t a good fit" for Paul, who was sent home mid-season, did little to fix the poor optics.
And that's not even mentioning the Aspiration controversy, which has already landed the franchise in an early PR mess.
The team faces allegations that it helped star Kawhi Leonard secure millions of dollars in a 'no-show' endorsement deal with Aspiration, a company Ballmer invested in, to circumvent NBA salary cap rules.
HOUSTON, TX - DECEMBER 11: James Harden #1 and Kawhi Leonard #2 of the LA Clippers high five during the game against the Houston Rockets on December 11, 2025 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images)
It's a ticking clock in Inglewood. NBA fans and the handful of Clippers faithful are losing faith, knowing both Harden and Leonard have a documented history of bullying their way off sinking ships and engineering successful departures.
While both Harden and Leonard have delivered at times, their visible apathy in this losing sequence raises serious questions about their commitment.
Both Harden and Kawhi have appeared visibly dejected in front of cameras, and the inevitable trade buzz is ready to pick at their valuable pieces, setting them up to be top trade deadline targets this year.
LA's "little-brother" franchise is now second-worst in the West at 6-19. All the money in the world can't buy Steve Ballmer a good NBA team.
This may also be near the end of the line for Coach Lue, who was unavailable to the media after Thursday's collapse.
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