Around the NBA 2024-25 - In Our Offseason, Vol. 1

[MrDollarBills]

ben simmons don't want it, y'all. hasn't for some time.

He would have been a waste of a roster spot and everyone would hate him.

God bless.

and i'm not even trying to judge bro on some angry vitriolic ****. but he has shown over the years that, for whatever reasons, he's kinda over it.

i'll never disrespect what a pro athlete has to do to get there -- especially the NBA. let alone what they did to perform well and get paid, as he did. but he's been telling us for a long time this ain't the main thing. and there's def more to life than putting your body on the line like he does. if he got enough money to eat candy, play video games, and explore what's important to him --- jah bless that young brother.

but that's not what teams with championship aspirations need.

i have a lot of compassion for whatever stress and challenges he probably has been dealing with all this while. but we got **** to do over here.

I have zero issues with Ben Simmons the person, agreed. I don't think he's done remotely anything bad enough to warrant the kind of nastiness that fans show him. But basketball is not his end all to be all. And that's okay.

[MrDollarBills]

Funny story, I actually met Ben's mom and dad a couple years ago at a game in Barclays. They were really nice from the few mins we chatted with them.

His Dad, Dave, is a really big dude. Had to be damn near pushing 6'10. Hands were like catchers gloves.

[Jalen Bluntson]

Funny story, I actually met Ben's mom and dad a couple years ago at a game in Barclays. They were really nice from the few mins we chatted with them.

His Dad, Dave, is a really big dude. Had to be damn near pushing 6'10. Hands were like catchers gloves.

Funny how? Like a clown funny? Funny how?

[MrDollarBills]

Funny story, I actually met Ben's mom and dad a couple years ago at a game in Barclays. They were really nice from the few mins we chatted with them.

His Dad, Dave, is a really big dude. Had to be damn near pushing 6'10. Hands were like catchers gloves.

Funny how? Like a clown funny? Funny how?

Uh

Funny meaning "hey here's an anecdote"

[MrDollarBills]

Apparently Leonard was paid $48m in total from the fake LLC. Balmer invested 50m into it.

https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2025/09/04/exclusive-kawhi-leonard-endorsement-deal-that-triggered-nba-investigation-actually-worth-48-million

Mods, the below is quoted from a reddit summary of the article. Please let me know if this violates any rules:

#**TLDR is at the bottom**

>But the Leonard deal was a curious one, a source within the company told Boston Sports Journal. **According to our source, none of the high-powered executives were consulted about the massive, $28 million endorsement deal Leonard signed, and Cherny never presented the deal to Aspiration’s Board of Directors.** BSJ has learned the deal was presented to the executive team as-is, with no opportunity for further analysis.

>The $28 million deal was to be paid in quarterly installments over four years, **but it was not the only compensation Leonard received. According to a high-level source, Leonard also cut a side deal with Aspiration to receive an additional $20 million in company stock. The stock was to be paid out from Sanberg’s personal holdings in the company over four years.**

>**That brought the total of promised compensation to Leonard to $48 million.** Around the same time as the Leonard deal, Aspiration was going through its rounds of fundraising. They had raised approximately $600 million, including the previously mentioned $250 million from Oak Tree Capital Management. That number also included a $50 million investment from Ballmer. That investment has been characterized to Boston Sports Journal as having been made with light-to-no diligence.

> The commitment from Ballmer was also curious, as he paid a higher price for his shares than others. The Oak Tree commitment to Aspiration came at $10 a share, **but Ballmer paid a premium of $11 per share, raising his overall investment to $50 million.** Typically, an investor of Ballmer’s caliber would have been wooed with a discounted share price, so the company could tout the investment of a major player.



Source: https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2025/09/04/exclusive-kawhi-leonard-endorsement-deal-that-triggered-nba-investigation-actually-worth-48-million


#TLDR:

- Kawhi had a separate side deal with Aspiration for $20 million in stock options. Add that to the original $28 million deal and **he was actually paid $48 million total by the company**.
- **Steve Ballmer invested $50 million into the company**

$50m under the table is a lot of money. I think LAC needs to lose their picks for a decade tbh

[The Lamma]

He would have been a waste of a roster spot and everyone would hate him.

God bless.

What a weird azz career. He used to be a force out there. Not the worst #1 pick ever when you consider that he at least shone brightly though briefly. He was rookie of the year. And an All-Star the 3 years after. There are other players who also fell off quickly, but his specific overall career trajectory with the way everything shook out, is unique and bizarre

He didn't have love for the sport. If he did, Philly beat it out of him.

I lived in Philly for 20 years, that town can beat the love out of anything in anybody. Brotherly love my a$$, maybe that existed back when Sam Adams was making his first brews and getting everyone hammered while signing important historical documents. These days they boo Santa Claus. Eagles might have the nastiest fanbase in all of pro sports. Sorry Wingo lol.

[MrDollarBills]

What a weird azz career. He used to be a force out there. Not the worst #1 pick ever when you consider that he at least shone brightly though briefly. He was rookie of the year. And an All-Star the 3 years after. There are other players who also fell off quickly, but his specific overall career trajectory with the way everything shook out, is unique and bizarre

He didn't have love for the sport. If he did, Philly beat it out of him.

I lived in Philly for 20 years, that town can beat the love out of anything in anybody. Brotherly love my a$$, maybe that existed back when Sam Adams was making his first brews and getting everyone hammered while signing important historical documents. These days they boo Santa Claus. Eagles might have the nastiest fanbase in all of pro sports. Sorry Wingo lol.

Didn't Philly fans tell Michael Irvin to snort the 5 yard line when he was down on the ground seriously injured?

[The Lamma]

He would have been a waste of a roster spot and everyone would hate him.

God bless.

What a weird azz career. He used to be a force out there. Not the worst #1 pick ever when you consider that he at least shone brightly though briefly. He was rookie of the year. And an All-Star the 3 years after. There are other players who also fell off quickly, but his specific overall career trajectory with the way everything shook out, is unique and bizarre

He has serious mental health issues. A lot of what derailed him outside of his back are completely mental.

Indeed. Imo the most bizarre aspect of Simmons' decline was the way the distance from which he was willing to shoot progressively shrank as his lack of outside shooting and the mental block that came with it compounded upon itself and affected his entire game. Combine this with his lack of giving fcks and you have a player who very likely was not willing to put in the shooting work needed to resurrect his once dominant game. In-game it appeared he was so afraid of looking bad shooting the ball he ultimately gave up on it until he would only attempt to score if he could get to the rack. And even reluctant close to the hoop at times.

I forget who said it and this might not be verbatim but "There's nothing more sad than wasted talent."

[The Lamma]

He didn't have love for the sport. If he did, Philly beat it out of him.

I lived in Philly for 20 years, that town can beat the love out of anything in anybody. Brotherly love my a$$, maybe that existed back when Sam Adams was making his first brews and getting everyone hammered while signing important historical documents. These days they boo Santa Claus. Eagles might have the nastiest fanbase in all of pro sports. Sorry Wingo lol.

Didn't Philly fans tell Michael Irvin to snort the 5 yard line when he was down on the ground seriously injured?

Jesus. I rest my case

[Jalen Bluntson]

Funny story, I actually met Ben's mom and dad a couple years ago at a game in Barclays. They were really nice from the few mins we chatted with them.

His Dad, Dave, is a really big dude. Had to be damn near pushing 6'10. Hands were like catchers gloves.

Funny how? Like a clown funny? Funny how?

Uh

Funny meaning "hey here's an anecdote"

You never watched Goodfellas?

[The Lamma]

Now that I'm down in the Carolinas, and they can tell I'm a Yankee from my accent, I tell them "NYers have a bad rap down here. Alotta NYers are cool, they just like to keep to themselves in public. Philly is way worse. People in Philly actually want to kill you just for occupying their nearby airspace."

But Southerners don't even understand the concept of wanting to be left alone in public. It's not like that down here. Southerners want to know your life story and also tell you theirs in a random gas station encounter. It's draining. I just wanna pay for my sht and gtfoh, stop showing me 85 pictures of your Hummel collection

[MrDollarBills]

Funny how? Like a clown funny? Funny how?

Uh

Funny meaning "hey here's an anecdote"

You never watched Goodfellas?

Not in a long time went right over my head

[Fat Kat]

Read on Twitter

I told yall this dude doesn't want to hoop.

Read on Twitter

[BKlutch]

ben simmons don't want it, y'all. hasn't for some time.

He would have been a waste of a roster spot and everyone would hate him.

God bless.

I can understand Ben not wanting to play, after all the crazy years he's had in the NBA. But learning that Julius smoked away his time with the Knicks, that's way more upsetting. He actually disassociated while smoking? That's the equivalent of an alcoholic having blackouts and being fall down drunk, then going to play afterwards. It reminds me of how Noah was doing drugs until he left the Knicks.

[MrDollarBills]

ben simmons don't want it, y'all. hasn't for some time.

He would have been a waste of a roster spot and everyone would hate him.

God bless.

I can understand Ben not wanting to play, after all the crazy years he's had in the NBA. But learning that Julius smoked away his time with the Knicks, that's way more upsetting. He actually disassociated while smoking? That's the equivalent of an alcoholic having blackouts and being fall down drunk, then going to play afterwards. It reminds me of how Noah was doing drugs until he left the Knicks.

I wouldn't compare the effects of weed disassociation to being black out drunk. It's two different mental states. Randle isn't the only player to be all NBA while being high off Marijuana. Everyone is different. I don't think anyone can do what Randle did in a Knicks uniform while being piss drunk.

That being said, Julius admitting that he was disassociating while high and what we saw during his last two seasons before he left (this is my time frame of reference) isn't a good thing. I don't think being high at game time is helping anything. If you're relaxing at home and have nothing to do, cool. Work? That's another story

[MrDollarBills]

I lived in Philly for 20 years, that town can beat the love out of anything in anybody. Brotherly love my a$$, maybe that existed back when Sam Adams was making his first brews and getting everyone hammered while signing important historical documents. These days they boo Santa Claus. Eagles might have the nastiest fanbase in all of pro sports. Sorry Wingo lol.

Didn't Philly fans tell Michael Irvin to snort the 5 yard line when he was down on the ground seriously injured?

Jesus. I rest my case

I mean that's just evil. I've had bad thoughts but damn.

[The Lamma]

What is widely regarded as the most important skill required to help an NBA team win games in the modern era?

Spoiler:

Three point shooting

What was the best % for a 3 point shooter on the Knicks last year and who was it?

Spoiler:

42%. Towns

And second best?

Spoiler:

Landry Shamet. 39.7%

What was league average last year?

Spoiler:

36.0%

This 2nd best 3 pt shooter on the Knicks... What was his plus/minus for the year?

Spoiler:

+88 reg season. +13 in the playoffs

Did this player play solid, scrappy, hustling defense in the postseason?

Spoiler:

If you watched you know the answer

Does he have familiarity and chemistry with the squad already plus a quick trigger release from 3?

(not worth a spoiler)


Is a proven rotation worthy player who hits right at 40% from downtown a good get for the vet min?

(also not worth a spoiler)

[Jalen Bluntson]

What is widely regarded as the most important skill required to help an NBA team win games in the modern era?

Spoiler:

Three point shooting

What was the best % for a 3 point shooter on the Knicks last year and who was it?

Spoiler:

42%. Towns

And second best?

Spoiler:

Landry Shamet. 39.7%

What was league average last year?

Spoiler:

36.0%

This 2nd best 3 pt shooter player on the Knicks... What was his plus/minus for the year?

Spoiler:

+88 reg season. +13 in the playoffs

Did this player play solid, scrappy, hustling defense in the postseason?

Spoiler:

If you watched you know the answer

Does he have familiarity and chemistry with the squad already plus a quick trigger release from 3?

(not worth a spoiler)


Is a proven rotation worthy player who hits right at 40% from downtown a good get for the vet min?

(also not worth a spoiler)

Sold

[Wildcat]

Is Cam freakin' stupid?

[3toheadmelo]

Is Cam freakin' stupid?

Idk i cant blame him. The nets were being dumb asf. Next year theres 10+ teams with cap space that can offer him way more. this is Lol nets

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