This is the hardest post I have ever written here on RealGM. Between the podcasts, videos and online articles covering the scandal when it first broke out on early September, I also had to revisit the entire Kawhi Leonard era to be able to craft a contextual retrospective that isn't tinted on hater glasses. I must have gone through a ton of rewrites to ensure the most crucial events and facts were correct. To ensure restraint and focus, I have split the piece into two parts. This post on the Los Angeles Clippers board will take a look back at the Kawhi Leonard era, and an exercise in the NCAA Death Penalty will be posted to the General Board.
In A Nutshell
The Los Angeles Clippers have allegedly circumvented the salary cap for their franchise face Kawhi Leonard, using money from Aspiration Inc. as a backdoor. Aspiration's mission was by planting trees all over the world, but after its co-founder was arrested for felony fraud, the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and ceased operations. Sports journalist and podcaster Pablo Torre uncovered a money trail of nearly $30 million sent to Leonard behind a no-show contract going as far back as 2021. Leonard's uncle and agent Dennis Robertson is in the center of the scandal with his unethical requests and demands, including the Paul George deal. Clearly, this had to be an inside job, right?
The Cassandra Clippers
Every time the Clippers try to defend themselves, new information comes pouring down on them like rain. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer claims innocence in an ESPN interview with Ramona Shelburne, Pablo Torre comes back with receipts that make him and the Clippers even more guilty. Late payments to Leonard were uncovered. Leonard also got stock options, pushing the overall circumvention total to $48 million. Dennis Wong made a small contribution that closely aligns to a missing payment for Leonard. Uncle Dennis's demands of a house, private jet, no-show endorsement deals and minority ownership matched with what he demanded to the Raptors and Lakers. The receipts always seem to show up whenever the Clippers are in the clear, not in terms of being innocent, just the fact they won't have to answer to the scandal 24-7. But it won't stop, not until the Clippers are caught on tape.
To add insult to injury, the Clipper's dark and troubled past has returned, this time as evidence to paint the narrative of a team that was emboldened to circumvent the cap to remain relevant. The 15-year playoff drought; the many draft blunders, busts and oversights; the freak injuries to Bill Walton, Shaun Livingston, Blake Griffin and Leonard himself; playoff collapses; and having the worst owner in Donald Sterling. Clipper haters are enjoying the schadenfreude too much, Clipper fans had to become gatekeepers and protect the newfound good will Ballmer injected into the team. Now the NBA has to answer to the alleged shenanigans, making this the greatest scandal in all of sports history.
The Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Trade, Looking Back
The SGA-George trade may have birthed a new dynasty in Oklahoma City, but there was still some "good." Obviously, Tyronn Lue taking over for Doc Rivers was a huge start. They are still winning seasons at an above .500 rate. And of course, the first ever western conference finals. But the trade also did this for both the Clippers and the league:
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Even with all of that, the Clippers were still stuck. Here's what happened each year since Leonard arrived:
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What Should The Clippers Do?
This upcoming season feels like an epilogue. The players they've signed, particularly Chris Paul, gives us the notion they want to end two eras in one season. The highlight reel spectacular that was Lob City went to ruin after six years of early exit stagnation, and with its highs came a lot of lows: the Donald Sterling scandal in 2014, the first 3-1 collapse to Rockets that influenced DeAndre Jordan to join Mavericks in 2015 leading up to the emoji war, and Blake Griffin's fall from grace with his uncharacteristic pair of ejections leading up to the Matias Testi punch in 2016. The Leonard era might have been the most successful based on the conference finals berth, but it was still mired in secrecy, scrutiny and suspicion, and now with the Aspiration scandal, the Leonard era is declared a failure.
This is a case of the Clippers being caught between a rock and a hard place. Anything they do to get out of trouble now will only indict the Clippers further, whether it's trading him before the season starts or before the All-Star Break, or keeping him around for one last year. Discipline is inevitable, but how strong the punishment is will depend on the Clipper's ulterior motive(s) behind the circumvention and/or tampering, and how damaging it is to the league. The least they can do right now is end both the Lob City and Leonard eras on a nice note, make it as worthwhile as they best can.
There's one more thing people need to remember about the Clippers: they are resilient. Tyronn Lue will ensure that, he is the only coach in NBA history to pull off the first ever 3-1 comeback in an NBA Finals, and he has the double 2-0 comeback which substitutes as a 3-0 comeback. Jeff Van Gundy turned the Clippers into a top 3 defense, perhaps the highest ranking in their franchise history. The return of Chris Paul combines nostalgia and purpose with direction and execution, the only player who can translate Lue and Van Gundy's commands into something understandable for the players. They can come back from down 25 points or greater. They once ended the Mitchel-Gobert era of the Jazz, and are currently in rebuild mode. When you put the failure of the SGA trade, the scandal, and the fear of losing Leonard (or worse, a whole Clipper season), you get a last hurrah Clippers. Their chance at a championship might be determined by how good they've competed... and behaved.
If there was ever a season where Clippers were forced to win a title, this might be the one. And they want to do it on their own terms.
