Clippers Punished for Violating Salary Cap Rules
The league said the Clippers used bogus sponsorships to pay Kawhi Leonard extra money and imposed the harshest punishment in league history.
- The NBA fined the Clippers $30 million, stripped five future first-round draft picks, and suspended owner Steve Ballmer for one year after investigating salary cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard.
- According to The Wachtell report, the Clippers were "affirmatively initiating off-court income opportunities between Mr. Leonard and four companies doing business with the team" and inducing those companies to participate by offering them Clippers business.
- Despite an ESPN report claiming the league found "no evidence" of wrongdoing by Ballmer or the Clippers, Torre stood by his original investigation, which first uncovered potential salary cap circumvention last summer.
- That August 17 ESPN story aged poorly; just two weeks later, the Clippers received the harshest punishment in league history, directly contradicting the report's framing that the investigation would clear the team.
- Torre's yearlong pursuit of this story demonstrates how adversarial journalism can produce results, as he wrote that accountability for the wealthiest people on Earth remains difficult but achievable through independent reporting.
21 Articles
21 Articles
NBA suspends Clippers owner, fines team $30 million in cap case
LOS ANGELES — The NBA imposed a sweeping punishment against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday for violating salary cap circumvention rules, suspending owner Steve Ballmer for one year, fining the team $30 million and forcing it to forfeit five…
The NBA imposes draconian penalties on the Los Angeles Clippers, who had tried to wipe out the system. The Mecano reminds of those of the HC Lugano around the turn of the millennium.
Pablo Torre Sounds Off on the NBA’s Historic Ruling Against the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard and ESPN — and Teases His Next Big Sports Investigation
“Pablo Torre Finds Out” host on the NBA’s historic ruling against the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard’s slap on the wrist and ESPN undermining his reporting.
How Do We Make Sense Of ESPN Duffing Its Big Clippers Scoop?
As the dust settles following the NBA's obliteration of the Clippers over the Kawhi Leonard–Aspiration scandal, one of the more interesting vectors of fallout is on the media side. After all, the scandal kicked off following a series of reports from podcaster Pablo Torre, who is mentioned in the first line of the official investigation's report, and was later stage-managed for the public several times over by ESPN, Torre's former employer. Despi…
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