Gillian Zucker: Clippers set to become L.A.’s basketball team

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer introduced the new president of business operations, Gillian Zucker, to the media before the team played the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday afternoon.

“I think the Clippers are well on their way to becoming Los Angeles’ team,” Zucker said. “There’s something really magical that’s going on here.”

Zucker, 45, is the only female chief executive or president in major U.S. professional sports besides the Lakers’ Jeanie Buss. She spent the last nine years as president of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, the largest racetrack on the West Coast. Zucker was named one of the five most powerful women in motorsports by MSN and Fox.

Zucker said that when she learned that Ballmer was going to buy the Clippers for $2 billion, she began trying to get in touch with him.

“I thought, wow, this is an incredible opportunity,” she said. “It’s an incredible moment in time for the Clippers, it’s an incredible moment in time for Los Angeles, and I thought to myself, that’s a job that I would love and I would love to be a part of it.

“So I set about spending some time trying to find my way to Steve and ultimately wasn’t even remotely disappointed when I met him. His energy and passion, his intellect is second to none and I am just so excited about what the future holds for the Clippers.”

Ballmer said that he interviewed between 25 and 30 people for the job. Initially he met Gillian at the Marriott in downtown for an hourlong interview. After it was over, though, he said he was left with the feeling that he wanted to keep chatting.

They then went out to a four-hour dinner.

“I’ve had a chance to work with a lot of very energetic, very intense, very bright people in my time at Microsoft and let me say Gillian compares favorably to amongst the most enthusiastic people I’ve ever had a chance to work with,” said Ballmer, a former Microsoft CEO.

Zucker assumes the role formerly held by Andy Roeser, who was forced out by the NBA during the Donald Sterling fiasco. Roser released a statement in support of Sterling after an audiotape of Sterling making racist comments about black people was released to the media.

The team’s new president of business operations said she knows exactly what is going to be her first order of operations.

“Listening,” she said, adding, “There’s a lot of information to process, so I’m drinking from the fire hose, really embracing all of the incredible talent and resources that are around me.”