Weekly Friday Self-Promotion and Fan Art Thread
Pablo Torre on Ballmer’s cap circumvention: “This is not a first-time offense. In 2015, Ballmer & the Clippers get fined $250k because they tried to offer DeAndre Jordan a marketing deal with Lexus, which was a team sponsor. Now you have Aspiration & Daktronics. This is a multiple alleged offender.”
[SAS Show] Pablo Torre “This is the second hidden sponsorship deal where there is no evidence that Kawhi publicly has done anything. To have these allegations existing concurrently, it amounts to the largest alleged cap circumvention scheme in the history of Professional Sports, at least in America”
Monta Ellis: “Real people know the team that I was dealt with. If you switched me and Steph out with the team that won the championships, it’d be the same thing. So you’ve got to take the good with the bad, and that’s cool. It put me in a position to make money for me and my family.”
[Highlight] 40-year-old Dirk Nowitzki nails the jumper over Drew Eubanks for the final shot of his NBA career. Gregg Popovich is clapping on the sideline. 4/10/19
[Torre] There was a piece of paper the Raptors had put in front of them by the league office. And the piece of paper that they had to sign for this trade was going to effectively indemnify both the league and the Clippers from any legal recourse or renegotiation in the event of a punishment…
[Jacob] There is a growing belief now, with reporting that the investigation is in fact over and the league is sifting through its findings, that the main delay will now stem from trying to find a punishment Ballmer will accept.
[Le Batard Show] Pablo Torre on Ballmer’s desperation: “He’s opening the Intuit. He needs a franchise player. He’s a basketball fan. He’s competing with the Lakers in their very same city. Kawhi had just won a title, microwaved the championship with Raptors. So the desire here cannot be overstated.”
Russell Westbrook on still being a Free Agent
“I don’t (think about it) honestly. I love playing basketball and if it happens, it works and that’s my plan”.
T.J. McConnell has a career 51.8% FG at just 6’1, making him the most efficient guard by FG% in NBA history. His game has aged incredibly, despite him shooting 34.3% 3P% in a the league favoring threes.
[Jim Rome] “Adam Silver, aka Powder, I know you wanted the investigation wrapped up. So, where’s Steve Ballmer? And why has he not yet sat down with Ramona Shelburne to explain that he’s the one who actually got conned? Why isn’t Steve Ballmer on ESPN right now claiming, ‘Daktronics conned me’?”
LaMelo Ball on 3 people he would like to wear his shoes: “Jesus, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X.”
Isaiah Hartenstein gets away with a flagrant foul against Stephon Castle during the WCF
Some Facts on the last time an Eastern Conference team eliminated LeBron
Channing Frye “yes, Steve Nash is better than Russell Westbrook.”
If the Kawhi trade falls through, who is the next best player Toronto could try and get for the same or a similar package?
[Highlight] Every Jalen Brunson basket on Victor Wembanyama in the 2026 NBA Finals.
Luka needs to average 32 ppg for next 4 season to eclipse Jordan career average of 30.12 ppg which is insane considering the last two Jordan’s season at Washington.
[Horney] Mavs Owner Patrick Dumont Hits Back at Mark Cuban in Arena Fight | Dumont says Cuban is demanding a role in a deal that does not yet constitute a “business opportunity.”
Wemby “Its just like the River Walk in San Antonio”
Jokic career leader in triple doubles, Wemby career leader in blocks titles and other potential milestones for 2026-27 to look forward to!
Lowe: “No question that they (Lakers) overpaid for him (Kessler) and are now trapped with this team and have to figure out: either this is the team, or is there a way to pivot by trading Austin Reaves?” …. Goldsberry: “He has to deodorize a stank at the POA with Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic.”
[Poole]: Dub Nation had been warned that 2026-27 was lining up as a “gap year.” The offseason focus would be on internal development rather than external additions. Do not expect gifts in July. None came.
76ers announcers thank Russell Westbrook for bricking the game winner
6 Years Ago Today: Bubble TJ Warren scores 39 points (15-22) and clutches up vs. the Lakers. Ending a 5-game span where he averaged 35-7-2 on 71.4 TS%. Since the NBA Merger, only Larry Bird, Curry, Klay, Wemby and TJ Warren have scored >170 points with <20 FTA in a 5-game span.
[Sam Amico] Anonymous GM: “He’s still LeBron, or still has moments where he’ll remind you he once was LeBron. But this is gonna be the chapter where we watch him and say that he stuck around too long. Someday we’ll ask, ‘Remember LeBron played for the Sixers?’ And laugh.”
[Gutierrez] BREAKING: Brandon Clarke’s death ruled accidental overdose of cocaine, heroin. The medical examiner also listed as a significant contributing condition the “combined effects of multiple prescription medications.”
[Pablo Torre Finds Out] Turns out, Kawhi Leonard, Steve Ballmer and the Clippers DID plant a tree for Aspiration. And they raised it to the roof — where their Daktronics scoreboard would live. Sources say Daktronics followed Aspiration as another hidden, multimillion-dollar “sponsorship” for Kawhi.
Stephen A Smith - “The Clippers are in a world of trouble… It should be entertained that Kawhi Leonard should be banned for a year.”
[Highlight] Fan asks AJ Dybantsa if he’s requesting a trade
The punishment for Kawhi should be making him play all 82 games…
Markelle Fultz is the DMV’s Next Lottery Pick: Senior Year Mixtape!
[Highlight] All 135 field goals made by Dirk Nowitzki in his final season in the NBA, the 2018-19 season.
He was 40 years old, and he scored 373 points on 135⁄376 (35.9%) FG, 64⁄205 from 3 (31.2%), 39⁄50 FT (78.0%).
I Reorganized the NBA into 25 Teams Based on the Watersheds of Players’ Birthplaces.
“Onions, baby onions!” | After Michael Ruffin tries to burn the clock off of a deflection by tossing the ball in the air, Mo “Morris Peterson” Pete hits a Hail Mary 3 to send the game to OT where the Raptors would triumph 123-118
2 years ago, Pablo Torre (as a sixers fan) expresses his discontent about The Process and its lack of success.
[Road Trippin’ Show] Channing Frye says Chris Paul had a better career than Allen Iverson: “I think Allen Iverson is the one of the top three most influential players ever to play basketball. But I think if we’re looking at careers, Chris Paul’s career is better than Allen Iverson’s.”
If every team was named like they were in a non-licensed video game.
[Grange] The punishments for cap circumvention, it has been pointed out to me, are jointly negotiated by the NBA and the NBPA and written into the league’s collective bargaining agreement. Nowhere in that language does it say a player can be suspended for participating in cap circumvention.
[Highlight] Kidd lob to the 6’1” Beaubois, one of the most unguardable plays few people remember
LeBron plays bullyball for the transition dunk
[Dan Patrick Show] “I think there’s a very real chance that Steve Ballmer emerges relatively unscathed.” - @PabloTorre on the possible fallout from the Kawhi Leonard situation.
In the 90s, Drazen Petrovic cooked perennial DPOY candidate Hakeem Olajuwan. 3 decades later, Chris Paul cooks perennial DPOY candidate Rudy Gobert with the same move!
In a 2007 game against the Wizards, LeBron had exactly 27/7/7 … Until he grabbed a board with 1 sec left up 7 off of a missed layup from Antonio Daniels.
[Fisher] County Votes to Approve $100M for Blazers Arena Upgrades | Tom Dundon has been insistent he does not intend to help pay for the renovations.
Is the WNBA GOAT more clear-cut than the NBA GOAT?
Highlight Russell Westbrook Refuses to join the Lakers Huddle.
[Pablo Torre Finds Out] Clippers had significant influence over Daktronics when the scoreboard-maker faced financial peril—and when Aspiration owed Kawhi. After studying earnings calls, Sam Koppelman says the relationship, for Daktronics, “might have been the greatest endorsement deal of all time.”
[McMenamin] Kevin Love’s agent, Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management, has been in touch with the Philadelphia 76ers’ front office since James picked Philadelphia, sources told ESPN. Philly would need to make a move to accommodate the 38-year-old Love.
[Grange] “Per league sources, there’s a belief the investigation has already moved beyond its fact-finding stage and the parties involved — specifically the Clippers and the NBPA— are working quietly to get the entire issue resolved”