Steve Ballmer
To preface the following, Ballmer et al. are innocent until proven guilty and an investigation is ongoing.
Last August, Torre revealed that Ballmer and Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong had been implicated in an under-the-table payment scheme that allowed them to sign Leonard. At the time, many were focused on the salary cap circumvention. The mindstate that Ballmer must have had to be willing to go that far out of a desire to be competitive was hardly discussed. In fact, the response towards Leonard was more vitriolic, he and “Uncle Dennis” characterized as strong-armers.
As the months pass, more people should be considering who Ballmer is though. His success in the technology sector is well-documented, as is his keen intelligence. In his new role, he comes across as being in the eccentric uncle archetype. That said, neither intellect nor weirdness reveal much about a person’s motivations. This is what makes the allegations against Ballmer all the more fascinating; they seemingly reveal that his aspirations (pun intended) to be successful don’t preclude rule-breaking.
If organizational psychology’s trickle-down effect is correct, Ballmer’s subordinates are influenced by him doing a wrong and convincing people it’s right. They may even seek to emulate that behavior. While that may not look like a sinecure endorsement deal, those types of actions could include dismissing a Hall of Fame during his retirement tour all because he was holding a playoff contender accountable.
