woj takes bribes from Clippers

[lalalaker]

why are clippers fan so dam delusional about lakers and trying to make it a rivalry between the two team jus bc they play for the same city which for one of the team is yet to make any if none at all a run at nba finals let alone conf finals. who cares about teams just settling for being 50 or 80 each season when real teams like lakers is all about just 0 or 100. at least get your own dam arena first and then make some sort of history thats worth comparing to the lakers. what is worth cheering for clippers anyways with lame ass team color and design and wtf is clippers anyways what they got their team name off of some paper clip? knicks and nets comparison is good at least nets color and design looks cool. clippers identity as a whole is so dam boring. Thats why they have to pay media guys to make them look good instead of letting the actually play and record do the talking.

[stan francisco]

“Adriaaaaaaan” was on TV earlier walking his junk back saying there’s no way of knowing bla bla bla...

Credibility lost. I hope Ball-mer tastes good tomorrow, too.

[Kilroy]

"AEG learned today that Ballmer has likely invested millions to pay off the media this summer to present favorable coverage about the Clippers to increase their chances of getting free agents, and consequently, this has resulted in a lot of anti-Lakers coverage, as I'm sure you've noticed."

While Mr. Rambis sounds credible, I don't see a link between "present favourable coverage about the Clippers" and "Woj takes bribes"

I doubt players listen to media as much as fans do or think either, KD aside

Players may not, but their reps clearly do and the company's that are part of their brand do... So that information is getting through.

That said, I do think 'bribe' is too strong a word... Woj doesn't like the Lakers and is protecting the hell out of a source he has... It's a win-win for him...
I do think Ballmer probably has the money/contacts/clout to put a ton of pressure on ESPN and their parent companies, though... Which is why it seems like all the ESPN reporters are towing the Clippers company line.

[stan francisco]

ESPN always had a thing against the Lakers way before Ballmer but yeah, that’s how he rolls. Throw around your weight, push people into corners, rule by strength, fear and threats etc. ESPN being from CT are Celtics or Knicks fans.

I always just accepted that as the reason behind highlight reels of someone dunking, there a Laker defender posterized 90% of the time.

[gts1]

I seriously doubt they take bribes.... In all honesty there really hasn't been a lot positive to say about the Lakers the last few years.. there's been some but for the most part the team has been a mess. The National Media really has not had a lot to work with, and it has not helped that our local coverage from some in radio and print has been incredibly critical of the Lakers FO for years

In Woj's case he does not like Lebron, that has been documented so by being a Laker some of that is going to wash over onto the Lakers. In Shelbournes' case she' a national writer and has been for a number of years and when many have been bashing the Laker's she has tried to give a counterpoint to the narrative many times. She has always struck me as one who tries to be fair at least, she can be critical but has shown that she tries to be truthful in her critiques.

As for Ballmer paying? who knows, they may be offering preferential treatment to some writers but if he is it's not working in the LA area.. The Clippers get very little print media coverage and the ESPN radio station never talks about them, if I were to put a percentage on it I'd say it's around 98% Lakers and 2% Clippers and has been that way for eons.

In the end when it comes to this stuff I believe some/most of this is writers being used, they are willing participants mind you because they need the content but none the less they are being used to get info out through the media to the ears of the intended target. I always ask myself who benefits the most from the information being released and once you sort out who that may be then you can sort out if it's true or just what the agenda may be.

Like with Kawhi for example, I never thought he'd be a Laker but still who benefits the most from Kawhi going to the Lakers or Clippers or staying in Toronto discussion. He's up for a max contract so it can't his people bring to drive up a price but it could be his people trying to force teams into making moves to beef up their roster. Lakers can't do much if anything but by putting the Lakers into conversation who have AD and Lebron it does make the Raptors and Clippers question what they can do to the roster.

The timeline for the last few weeks has been Toronto or the Clippers via the media. Then the Lakers get AD, it's still Toronto or the Clippers but then when the Lakers clear the cap space it suddenly the Lakers too. Now there's a team in the mix with two stars that Kawhi may want to go too yet the Clippers and Raptors are quiet on roster improvements or even rumors of roster improvements. suddenly Friday within 2 days of free agency we get Kawhi and KD are talking about teaming up. To me that's somebody in Leonards' camp saying he wants to see more action from the Clippers or Raptors to help him make his decision and the Lakers' name has just been used as a leverage point which has been a common theme for many years

Of course the media happily plays along as the guest host in this form of information because of all of us idiots who sit around and hit refresh waiting for the next "Woj Bomb"

[H00PDREAMS]

Woj, basically guaranteed KD and K Leonard to the Clippers. We'll see tomorrow...

[gts1]

Woj, basically guaranteed KD and K Leonard to the Clippers. We'll see tomorrow...

and... it's KD and Kyrie to the Nets...lol

[NYG]

If this is true, doesn’t it speak loudly about the media as a whole being able to be bought to twist things and it’s agendas?

[UKClipperfan]

surprise surprise turns out Woj was right

[MAMBAEMD]

surprise surprise turns out Woj was right

Yeah turns out Woj had some intimate knowledge of what was going to happen.
I $$ wonder $$ how $$ that $$ happened $$$

[UKClipperfan]

surprise surprise turns out Woj was right

Yeah turns out Woj had some intimate knowledge of what was going to happen.
I $$ wonder $$ how $$ that $$ happened $$$

bribed with what tho? money? i doubt that. with accurate inside information? i think yes

[Kilroy]

surprise surprise turns out Woj was right

Yeah turns out Woj had some intimate knowledge of what was going to happen.
I $$ wonder $$ how $$ that $$ happened $$$

Being right about Kawhi's ultimate destination was never the point... He was wrong about literally everything else... All the reasons why Kawhi would choose the Clippers, how undesirable and dysfunctional the Lakers were... All of the hit pieces...

He was being used to negative Market the Lakers, along with Ramona and the rest of the ESPN crew, in an attempt to make the Lakers look less desirable to Kawhi's team... It's safe to assume somebody was using their influence to get the ESPN crew to do their bidding. Money always is at the root of that. Woj profited, no question...

At the end of the day, all it really came down to was who could trade for Paul George... Clippers could so he went with the Clippers, and apparently was looking at the Lakers up until they made it happen.