Steve Ballmer with current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Steve Ballmer with current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Sorry, Seattle basketball fans: Even if Steve Ballmer were to own the Los Angeles Clippers, he wouldn’t move the team north.

In light of the recent Donald Sterling fiasco, the NBA is hoping to find new owners for the Los Angeles Clippers. Ballmer’s name has come up as a potential buyer, especially since he nearly bought the Sacramento Kings and moved them to Seattle last year.

But in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Ballmer said that even if he did have the opportunity to buy the Clippers, he’d keep them in California.

“I don’t work anymore, so I have more geographic flexibility than I did a year, year-and-a half ago,” he told the Journal. “Moving them anywhere else would be value destructive.”

Though that’s likely to disappoint Seattle Supersonics fans — who had their team leave town to Oklahoma City in 2008 — it’s not all that surprising. The Clippers already have an adequate arena in the Staples Center and ranked seventh in league attendance this season, so there doesn’t seem to be a convincing reason for them to re-locate.

Ballmer also talked about Microsoft’s relationship with investors, in addition to his thoughts on new CEO Satya Nadella. The WSJ asked him if he thinks about people not giving him enough credit for some of the recent changes going on at Microsoft.

“I don’t think that’s an important topic, actually,” he said. “It’s certainly not important to me. Microsoft is still like a child to me. So the fact that people are loving it, that’s all that really matters.”

Ballmer, who seems to bring up golf in every post-retirement interview/speech, also notes his golf handicap as 11.9. For those interested, here are a few of his most recent rounds:

ballmerhandicap

Read the full interview here.

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