LOS ANGELES — It wasn’t until the Los Angeles Clippers’ 74th game of the season, on one of their final home dates, that the excitable owner Steve Ballmer and Jerry West, his hypercritical special consultant, agreed to watch a game together in Ballmer’s baseline seats at Staples Center.
“He told me early on, ‘You don’t always want me sitting with you,’” Ballmer said.
West prefers to watch games alone, or as isolated as he can manage when he takes one in live; that allows him to fume at will, nitpick unreservedly and, most of all, curse freely.