Ballmer confident Clippers will move to Inglewood despite MSG's lawsuits

Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer plans to move his team into a new arena in Inglewood, California, whether New York Knicks owner James Dolan likes it or not.

"We're on a path where we think we can build the arena, whatever happens in the litigation," Ballmer said Thursday, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. "We're moving along ... The other side is just trying to slow us down a little bit. But it's another thing where we're grinders. We're long-term players, and we're grinders."

Ballmer later added: "We are going to open that arena one way or another."

Dolan is the executive chairman and CEO of The Madison Square Garden Company and has long opposed the construction of the Clippers' proposed arena. His company owns The Forum, which is located across the street from the Clippers' potential future home and still serves as an entertainment venue. Dolan's group has two pending lawsuits against the project.

"You want to hit us in the nose? OK. We'll keep moving," Ballmer said. "You can't knock us down. I'm not sure they understand what they've gotten themselves into, from my perspective, in the sense that we'll just keep going ... We have plenty of time. Keep patient, keep going."

The Clippers' lease with the Staples Center ends in 2024. The club has shared the facility with the Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings since the building opened in 1999.

"It's so weird that it's in the same town," Ballmer said. "The fact that we play in the same building, we get the worst nights. It's Monday Night Football, who's going to play? The Clippers. That's true by lease. Our lease says we get the least favorable nights after the Kings and the Lakers."