Kawhi "no-show job" that paid $28M

[Fairview4Life]

Lots of people think rich people are smart enough to not do x, y or z very stupid thing. I have some news: they are not.

[brownbobcat]

What I am most curious about is whether they would actually void the remaining years of Kawhi's contract.

That would be extremely interesting.

Although that technically happened with Joe Smith, it was really about voiding his Bird rights as he was signing a bunch of 1-year deals. So they didn't exactly take away any owed money, just negated his ability to sign a big money deal.

Kawhi has over $100M remaining on his contract, that is a much different scenario.

[ontnut]

The more interesting part is Aspiration. Oaktree Capital Management was heavily involved in 2 rounds of financing for this fraud, totaling at least $450M. Oaktree is 62% owned by Brookfield, our recently elected PM's previous employer. Not a good look.

I find Aspiration interesting only because it is a classic VC ponzi-esque scheme all the way to its SPAC merger. It was a company that provided an aura of legitimacy but could easily be used in the way that the Clippers allegedly did.

Brookfield's ownership in Oaktree isn't that consequential when you consider that $450M represents 0.00045% of the 1 Trillion dollars in assets that that Brookfield has under management.

Unless Ballmer or the Clippers left a paper trail it could be tough for the league to hand down a "stern" punishment. This is despite the fact that Kawhi had a contract with Aspiration where he explicitly wasn't required to do anything AND his compensation was tied to being/remaining a Clipper, terms that are so sketchy.

$450m is 0.045% of a trillion. Not THAT many zeroes.

[Jerry Lucas]

Read on Twitter

[DelAbbot]

I’m getting further radicalized the more I hear about this story.

Force Ballmer to sell. They did it for Sterling and Sarver (I think?) who were clearly worse people, but didn’t have the same history of breaking league rules. The league doesn’t need Ballmer at all. There will be no shortage of other **** billionaires willing to buy the Clippers. He’ll make a 200-300% return on his investment as a “penalty.”

Ban Kawhi for life. While I think Ballmer takes more of the blame pie, there have to be real consequences for players agreeing to take these shady deals.

NBPA won't allow the loss of 1 cent, let alone voiding of contract or ban for life. That's beyond wishful thinking.

[PushDaRock]

Read on Twitter

the slap on the wrist is coming lol

[NinjaBro]

Read on Twitter

the slap on the wrist is coming lol

Utter disgrace

[Mark_83]

Read on Twitter

Predictable.

[havlat]

I don't think Silver's comments tell us much either way. Could it suggest a slap on the wrist is coming? Perhaps. But if the league sees itself possibly handing down a heavy penalty at the end of this investigation, they might also try to establish from the outset that the burden is high and the process will be a fair, non-reactionary one.

[tecumseh18]

I'm not sure I want the guy who blamed Masai for being manhandled by a security guard making the judgment call here. His concept of "burden of proof" seems wonky.

But it's too early to read anything into Silver's comments. Of course he's not gonna act has judge/jury/executioner before the investigation is complete.

[inonba]

I know that circumstantial evidence can be sufficient for the league per the CBA.

I assume Ballmer is smart enough to have plausible deniability though, so someone else will take the fall (Lawrence Frank?). In terms of punishment, obviously they'd take away draft picks but I think they should also take away their ability to use cap exceptions (at least some of them). What I am most curious about is whether they would actually void the remaining years of Kawhi's contract.

This is why Ballmer is in hot water. By my count, there are at least 2 actions by Ballmer can be viewed as a conscious of guilt.
1. He used his personal LLC to finance the deal. On its own, it's not too damaging, but when you combine it with
2. He paid above market price for share to circumvent NBA reporting requirements, then the deniability become difficult to explain away.

Reminds me of people laundering money. Carrying large sums of cash across the border, depositing cash into bank accounts. Many think as long as the amount is below the reporting requirements, they're in the clear.

[inonba]

I’m getting further radicalized the more I hear about this story.

Force Ballmer to sell. They did it for Sterling and Sarver (I think?) who were clearly worse people, but didn’t have the same history of breaking league rules. The league doesn’t need Ballmer at all. There will be no shortage of other **** billionaires willing to buy the Clippers. He’ll make a 200-300% return on his investment as a “penalty.”

Ban Kawhi for life. While I think Ballmer takes more of the blame pie, there have to be real consequences for players agreeing to take these shady deals.

NBPA won't allow the loss of 1 cent, let alone voiding of contract or ban for life. That's beyond wishful thinking.

Voiding of the contract is definitely on the table if the NBA finds the Clippers and Kawhi entered into an illegal agreement. Also, they can also make him forfeit the illegal endorsement money. Although unlikely, there is a chance the bankruptcy trustee sues Kawhi for the return of the endorsement money if enough creditors cry foul. If the sources from Pablo are to be trusted, Kawhi was given payment preference over other creditors. Combine that with no work was produced, there is a case for fraudulent transfer.

[Bankai]

The new reports of what Kawhi and Uncle Dennis demanded from MLSE such as stakes, and bonuses is wild. If this gets sweeped under the rug..

[TGM]

**** that guy. I just want to see the clippers get hammered with penalties. There's no way they can just sweep this under the rug now.

Jewish owner, Jewish commissioner and predominantly Jewish owners in the rest of the league. Pretty sure will be a much lighter slap on the wrist. Even though there is precedent of Kawhi asking for it. Doesn’t mean it was done. You can spin the endorsement deals six ways to Sunday.

If this guy was a Chinese or Indian owner would probably be forced to sell the team. Just the way the world works.

Warned: Inappropriate comment

[WaltFrazier]

**** that guy. I just want to see the clippers get hammered with penalties. There's no way they can just sweep this under the rug now.

Jewish owner, Jewish commissioner and predominantly Jewish owners in the rest of the league. Pretty sure will be a much lighter slap on the wrist. Even though there is precedent of Kawhi asking for it. Doesn’t mean it was done. You can spin the endorsement deals six ways to Sunday.

If this guy was a Chinese or Indian owner would probably be forced to sell the team. Just the way the world works.

Donald Sterling was forced to sell

[TGM]

**** that guy. I just want to see the clippers get hammered with penalties. There's no way they can just sweep this under the rug now.

Jewish owner, Jewish commissioner and predominantly Jewish owners in the rest of the league. Pretty sure will be a much lighter slap on the wrist. Even though there is precedent of Kawhi asking for it. Doesn’t mean it was done. You can spin the endorsement deals six ways to Sunday.

If this guy was a Chinese or Indian owner would probably be forced to sell the team. Just the way the world works.

Donald Sterling was forced to sell

Donald’s Sterling scandal was totally next level. Would have cost the nba all the owners and players a ton of money.


Sterlings

[inonba]

Donald Sterling was forced to sell

".....And he was the whitest SOB I've seen in my entire life" narrated in my Foghorn Leghorn voice.

[notagenius]

Watch on YouTube

Clippers co owner invested 2 mil into aspiration just a few days before kawhi's quarterly 1.75 mil was due.

This happened while the company was failing, employees weren’t being paid and layoffs were underway.

To add to it, the co-owner’s daughter was working there as a project manager.

Yeah this **** stinks.

[WuTang_CMB]

And there it is

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=0YpMScWXY2zRUqR8fH-usg

[Jadoogar]

this should be the nail in the coffin for the "Ballmer didn't know anything" people.