ATL - Wemby dominates, Billups arrested in gambling probe

[MickeyDavis]

Cuban defending him probably because Dallas has done the same thing. The Brunson deal smells similar. There are most likely others. The more widespread this kind of stuff is the lesser the penalty for the Clippers. If they get hit hard you can be sure they'll want everyone to be hit hard. I think Silver would rather sweep this under.

[MikeIsGood]

At this point I'm expecting something will come of it, but they'll find a fall guy somewhere to take the brunt of it.

Hard part is you can’t find a fall guy since it was really a deal directly between Kawhi and Ballmer. Ballmer wrote the $50 million check. Kawhi and Uncle Dennis accepted the $28mm contract and $20mm in stock. It’s not like Ballmer’s car dealer ‘accidentally’ gave Kawhi BMW or something. This was a massive deal.

I think you overestimate the NBA, its owners, Silver, and potentially our legal system, but I hope you're right.

[LikeABosh]

Need to talk about penalties for Kawhi. He’s owed $50 million this year and $50 million next year. Arguably you’d void that contract and make him a FA. He’d likely lose money then as most teams don’t have cap room to offer him anything close to that.

Then suspend Ballmer from team operations and attending games for an entire year. Fine the team $20 million. Dock them two future firsts.

That all feels about right to me.

I don't think the league wants Kawhi joining the Thunder on an MLE. He'll probably be suspended too

[paulpressey25]

This is spectacular. Ramona!

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Meanwhile Pablo confirms the additional $20 mil stock.

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[paulpressey25]

I don't think that's punitive enough. Not being able to attend games is nothing. Most owners aren't showing up regularly anyway. $20 million is chump change to these guys. Two first picks would sting but not enough to keep other organizations from trying this again.

They need to come down with something crippling.

Would love to see them make Ballmer sell the team. But talking realistically the max the other owners would allow. It’s a cash cow LA team. They won’t want to kill it or a fellow owner.

[midranger]

Owners don’t want the precedent set that they have to sell their favorite toy if they take a big swing and get caught.

There will be a hefty fine and maybe a pick lost.

[Plossum]

From my peripheral view of all this (I haven’t heard the PTFO pod) there doesn’t seem to be any smoking gun link between the Kawhi deal and the Clips other than Ballmer’s investment and the comments of alleged ex workers at Aspiration who said it was a sham for circumventing the salary cap? How do we know the con artists didn’t just do this to get some clout with inner circle nba guys? Ballmer is no dope. It’s hard to imagine he’d be so blatant about breaking the cap like this.

[raferfenix]

Ballmer and Kawhi both being repeat offenders on this front is important context too:

All of these questions coming the Clippers’ way are fair, just as they were six years ago when Robertson’s outlandish requests for illegal perks in free agency — houses, private planes, part ownership of the team, a guaranteed amount of off-court endorsement money, etc. — compelled rival owners to share their concerns with the league.

Lest anyone forgets, Ballmer was fined $250,000 by the league in the summer of 2015 for offering DeAndre Jordan a third-party endorsement deal from Lexus as part of the team’s free agency pitch (Jordan reportedly would have earned an additional $200,000 annually).

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6597250/2025/09/04/kawhi-leonard-clippers-steve-ballmer-sponsorship-deal-aspiration/

[Baddy Chuck]

Owners don’t want the precedent set that they have to sell their favorite toy if they take a big swing and get caught.

There will be a hefty fine and maybe a pick lost.

Add the 48 million to their luxury tax payment totally not because the Milwaukee Bucks are out of the tax this season and would receive a share.

[emunney]

From my peripheral view of all this (I haven’t heard the PTFO pod) there doesn’t seem to be any smoking gun link between the Kawhi deal and the Clips other than Ballmer’s investment and the comments of alleged ex workers at Aspiration who said it was a sham for circumventing the salary cap? How do we know the con artists didn’t just do this to get some clout with inner circle nba guys? Ballmer is no dope. It’s hard to imagine he’d be so blatant about breaking the cap like this.

He's no dope, he just invests millions of dollars in the lucrative for-profit tree-planting industry

[MikeIsGood]

ESPN is a mouthpiece, as we've known for years now. The more they are purchased partners with these leagues, the worse it will get. I think him going on is perfectly calculated. It may not be smart, but it's calculated. The only place most people that aren't us will hear about this is...ESPN.

[paulpressey25]

ESPN is a mouthpiece, as we've known for years now. The more they are purchased partners with these leagues, the worse it will get. I think him going on is perfectly calculated. It may not be smart, but it's calculated. The only place most people that aren't us will hear about this is...ESPN.

Just listened to the Hoop Collective crew + Ramona.

Some are saying Ramona tossed softballs but I think it was a good interview because it she let Ballmer talk. And I'm not sure he came off all that well. Interestingly Ballmer flew to ESPN studios in CT to do the interview.

Windy basically said because as of now there is no smoking gun document where Ballmer directed the company to pay Kawhi, will be hard to prove and he doesn't see much happening. Said the two key circumstantial pieces are the dollar size of the deal and the fact Kawhi did nothing for it.

MacMahon though said the whole thing stinks to high heaven and won't be going away anytime soon.

[jakecronus8]

Stuff like this bums me out when I think about the possibility that Giannis' loyalty might be from more than just loyalty. Still would shock me as that's not the type of person we've come to love but Cuban instantly coming out in Ballmer's defense when so few of the facts had come out makes me believe this might be pretty much commonplace.

[PG Graveyard]

ESPN is a mouthpiece, as we've known for years now. The more they are purchased partners with these leagues, the worse it will get. I think him going on is perfectly calculated. It may not be smart, but it's calculated. The only place most people that aren't us will hear about this is...ESPN.

Just listened to the Hoop Collective crew + Ramona.

Some are saying Ramona tossed softballs but I think it was a good interview because it she let Ballmer talk. And I'm not sure he came off all that well. Interestingly Ballmer flew to ESPN studios in CT to do the interview.

Windy basically said because as of now there is no smoking gun document where Ballmer directed the company to pay Kawhi, will be hard to prove and he doesn't see much happening. Said the two key circumstantial pieces are the dollar size of the deal and the fact Kawhi did nothing for it.

MacMahon though said the whole thing stinks to high heaven and won't be going away anytime soon.

McMahahon had a great comment about the carbon footprint of his jet flying to ESPN for the interview. That alone probably canceled out any trees planted by this fraud company. lol

[emunney]

ESPN is a mouthpiece, as we've known for years now. The more they are purchased partners with these leagues, the worse it will get. I think him going on is perfectly calculated. It may not be smart, but it's calculated. The only place most people that aren't us will hear about this is...ESPN.

Just listened to the Hoop Collective crew + Ramona.

Some are saying Ramona tossed softballs but I think it was a good interview because it she let Ballmer talk. And I'm not sure he came off all that well. Interestingly Ballmer flew to ESPN studios in CT to do the interview.

Windy basically said because as of now there is no smoking gun document where Ballmer directed the company to pay Kawhi, will be hard to prove and he doesn't see much happening. Said the two key circumstantial pieces are the dollar size of the deal and the fact Kawhi did nothing for it.

MacMahon though said the whole thing stinks to high heaven and won't be going away anytime soon.

People are obsessed with the idea that there needs to be a "smoking gun". Prisons would be empty if that were the case; it's not true in court and it's not true here. What is the counter-theory? That Aspiration slipped Kawhi 50m under the table without the Clippers' knowledge as a pure-hearted act of Clippers fanaticism?

[PG Graveyard]

ESPN is a mouthpiece, as we've known for years now. The more they are purchased partners with these leagues, the worse it will get. I think him going on is perfectly calculated. It may not be smart, but it's calculated. The only place most people that aren't us will hear about this is...ESPN.

Just listened to the Hoop Collective crew + Ramona.

Some are saying Ramona tossed softballs but I think it was a good interview because it she let Ballmer talk. And I'm not sure he came off all that well. Interestingly Ballmer flew to ESPN studios in CT to do the interview.

Windy basically said because as of now there is no smoking gun document where Ballmer directed the company to pay Kawhi, will be hard to prove and he doesn't see much happening. Said the two key circumstantial pieces are the dollar size of the deal and the fact Kawhi did nothing for it.

MacMahon though said the whole thing stinks to high heaven and won't be going away anytime soon.

People are obsessed with the idea that there needs to be a "smoking gun". Prisons would be empty if that were the case; it's not true in court and it's not true here. What is the counter-theory? That Aspiration slipped Kawhi 50m under the table without the Clippers' knowledge as a pure-hearted act of Clippers fanaticism?

I’m surprised Ballmer didn’t try this. The Clips fan idea is probably the only reasonalmbly plausible excuse here and that just shows how laughable this entire thing is.

[emunney]

Stuff like this bums me out when I think about the possibility that Giannis' loyalty might be from more than just loyalty. Still would shock me as that's not the type of person we've come to love but Cuban instantly coming out in Ballmer's defense when so few of the facts had come out makes me believe this might be pretty much commonplace.

If it's commonplace, we'll get a flood of examples coming out in the next few months. I wouldn't be so quick to assume it is.

[GoldenAntlers]

Need to talk about penalties for Kawhi. He’s owed $50 million this year and $50 million next year. Arguably you’d void that contract and make him a FA. He’d likely lose money then as most teams don’t have cap room to offer him anything close to that.

Then suspend Ballmer from team operations and attending games for an entire year. Fine the team $20 million. Dock them two future firsts.

That all feels about right to me.

I don't think the league wants Kawhi joining the Thunder on an MLE. He'll probably be suspended too

I can't see Kawhi playing anywhere for less than the max.Think he would more likely sit the season out.

[midranger]

From my peripheral view of all this (I haven’t heard the PTFO pod) there doesn’t seem to be any smoking gun link between the Kawhi deal and the Clips other than Ballmer’s investment and the comments of alleged ex workers at Aspiration who said it was a sham for circumventing the salary cap? How do we know the con artists didn’t just do this to get some clout with inner circle nba guys? Ballmer is no dope. It’s hard to imagine he’d be so blatant about breaking the cap like this.

He's no dope, he just invests millions of dollars in the lucrative for-profit tree-planting industry

This was my first thought exactly. This “company” raised like a half billion dollars to plant trees?

In a timeline that made any sense, dozens of people would be going to jail for this obvious money laundering endeavor. Alas, it’s 2025.

[midranger]

ESPN is a mouthpiece, as we've known for years now. The more they are purchased partners with these leagues, the worse it will get. I think him going on is perfectly calculated. It may not be smart, but it's calculated. The only place most people that aren't us will hear about this is...ESPN.

Just listened to the Hoop Collective crew + Ramona.

Some are saying Ramona tossed softballs but I think it was a good interview because it she let Ballmer talk. And I'm not sure he came off all that well. Interestingly Ballmer flew to ESPN studios in CT to do the interview.

Windy basically said because as of now there is no smoking gun document where Ballmer directed the company to pay Kawhi, will be hard to prove and he doesn't see much happening. Said the two key circumstantial pieces are the dollar size of the deal and the fact Kawhi did nothing for it.

MacMahon though said the whole thing stinks to high heaven and won't be going away anytime soon.

People are obsessed with the idea that there needs to be a "smoking gun". Prisons would be empty if that were the case; it's not true in court and it's not true here. What is the counter-theory? That Aspiration slipped Kawhi 50m under the table without the Clippers' knowledge as a pure-hearted act of Clippers fanaticism?

They wanted access to the famously outgoing good-time that is Kawhi Leonard.