DALLAS —
Steve Ballmer leaned over from his baseline seat and shook hands with a reporter walking by, the Clippers owner appearing somber after watching his team get eliminated from the playoffs with a 114-101 loss in Game 6 against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Arena.
A few minutes later, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said Ballmer walked into the locker room and spoke to the players.
Along with president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, Ballmer has a lot of decisions to make about the future of the franchise as it prepares to move into its new arena, the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, next season.
Most of the questions will center on the health of Kawhi Leonard, contract extensions for Paul George and Lue and whether the Clippers re-sign James Harden.
So Ballmer’s decision to talk to players after their season-ending loss meant “a lot” to the team, Lue said.
“You have …