Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. No surprise, then, that our favorite sweaty iOS hater is banning iPhones and iPads on the court.
According to a new report from Reuters, Ballmer plans to band the Clippers franchise from using anything that’s not Windows or Microsoft-friendly in the future. No Android, no iPhones, and definitely no iPads.
“Most of the Clippers on are Windows, some of the players and coaches are not,” Ballmer said. “And Doc kind of knows that’s a project. It’s one of the first things he said to me: ‘We are probably going to get rid of these iPads, aren’t we?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, we probably are.’ But I promised we would do it during the off season.”
This would be a move very much in Ballmer’s wheelhouse. Not only is Ballmer still Microsoft’s top shareholder, he’s the son of a Ford Motor company manager who is a lifelong product and company loyalist.
And he’s not the only ex-Microsoft CEO to ban iPhones and iPads: Bill and Melinda Gates have also famously banned Apple products in their house, even though their kids were clammoring for them.
At least players have until the off-season before Ballmer forces them to trade in their iPads for Surfaces.
