We begin with a quote from our guy Nate Duncan, reacting to Wednesday’s NBA announcement of severe KawhiGate penalties for the Los Angeles Clippers:
Maybe my favorite hilariously wrong argument in this whole Clippers saga: Steve Ballmer is really rich and sophisticated so he'd never do something this dumb. People really were saying that after Pablo's first pod dropped.
So I’m on this Ringer Rewatchables kick right now and I love their movie category of:
Vincent Chase Award: “Are We Sure This Character Is Actually Good at Their Job?”
My favorite example is another Vincent, John Travolta’s Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction. Travolta’s Vega has the aura of a super slick hitman, which is why his character remains iconic, but if you go through his track record, as Bill Simmons and company do, the ineptitude on display is staggering. And yet, colleagues treat heroin-zonked Mr. Vega, nattily attired in his back suit and tie, like he’s a valued employee, worthy of implicit trust.
In that vein, I wonder about the general competence of one Steve Ballmer, someone who should theoretically be hyper competent. He’s the richest NBA owner by far. He got the Intuit Dome built. And yet, as we sift through the Clipper wreckage, I ask: Are we sure this character is actually good at his job? Did the 9th richest man on the planet mostly just get lucky?