As the president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Clippers, the Teaneck native and former New Jersey Nets head coach is playing a significant role in the transformation of the NBA landscape in Los Angeles, working for an owner he reveres in Steve Ballmer and alongside close friend and head coach Doc Rivers. Together they guided the Clippers out of a dark period and into a run of sustained success. Now the Clippers, after a summer that included signing Kawhi Leonard and trading for Paul George, are one of the top teams in the Western Conference and a contender for the franchise’s first NBA championship.