Did Steve Balmer pay Kawhi Leonard under the table?

I'm not sure that's true. If there is any evidence that he signed that deal with knowledge of the no-show 28M deal, the NBA could void the contract regardless

besides that, the trade would need to be approved by the NBA and if they had Kawhi, Ballmer, & the Clippers under investigation, the league would veto that trade PDQ

 

Is Adam Silver full of crap too? (cued to 1:28)

"It was news to me. Frankly, I had never heard of the company Aspiration before."

Backtracking on his comments about the NBA being a highlight league, and his not knowing about the Aspiration deal.

"Just to be clear, I'm not sure if, if I said I never heard of it, it was in the context of the accusations here."

 

@THE HCP the commissioner is trying fuck up your big raise. You better get your boy Adam Silver back in line.

 

Fine, as long as they also part ways with a bunch of draft picks too.

 

I hope the NBA completes their investigation and dishes out the punishment before the season starts.

 

Bro, they better handle this the right way. If they don’t come down hard on them, that will set a dangerous precedent.

 

generally, I can barely tolerate 10 minute videos, let alone one like this over an hour long...but....

I gave this a couple of minutes; then I gave it a couple more; then I pretty much watched the entire video/podcast. To start with, when this story broke I had never heard of Pablo Torre. The bones of the initial reporting was certainly interesting. But watching this it sure seems to me Torre is very credible. More than that is he's articulate and entertaining. It was a good show, and he's certainly constructed a very believable outline of a scandal

the circumstantial evidence presented in this podcast is compelling. More than that, the money trail timelines have way too many coincidences to actually be coincidences.

I'm cynical. It's always been a case in this country that the wealthy, connected, and powerful could usually dodge accountability for violating ethics, standards, rules and the law. But in MAGA world, there has never been a time when wealth and power have been less accountable. That has been super-charged so I'm expecting nothing but wrist-slaps for Ballmer, the Clippers, and Kawhi

 

First time I’ve ever typed PRECEDENT! Now that’s the 2nd time!!!!

 

quit lying

I saw you type precedent Obama several times

 

That word calendar is really paying off!

 

that might be true but sort of like paul george, he's going to be a clipper in perpetuity unless he's cleaved from the team under significant penalty.

 

If the NBA doesn't punish the Clippers, I might be done.

This is such a blatant violation of the CBA and the salary cap. What is even the point of following the NBA if super wealthy owners can just do whatever the hell they want?

 

Won’t be a decision til after the all star game? Word on street.

 

Wow, didn’t even think of that.

 

I think the league will come down on the Clippers and more so on Clippers ownership pretty hard.

Something like the Clippers losing their FRPs in 2030, 2031 and 2032. They don't have any of their picks before then free and clear. Ballmer and the other owner that facilitated this being suspended for a year and probably fined in the neighborhood of 20M. Sadly I think there will be a beneficial "punitive" action taken and that's the rest of Kawhi's contract being voided.

I think the league has to put any trades involving the Clippers on hold until they conclude the investigation. I'll be very upset if the Clippers are allowed to trade a future FRP or Kawhi between now and when the league makes an announcement regarding their findings in this matter.

 

I would force the Clippers to resign Westbrook to punish them.