Pablo Torre on ESPN’s report regarding negotiations between Steve Balmer and the NBA: “This is typically not how investigations work whether in the criminal justice system or in journalism. The subject of the investigation does not get to negotiate with the group that is doing the investigating.”
[Holmes and Charania] The NBA has found no evidence showing LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money through team sponsors to pay Kawhi Leonard in order to circumvent the salary cap, sources tell ESPN.
[Shelburne] Also: Am told by multiple sources that Lakers governor Jeanie Buss did not vote to sell. The other five siblings did.
[Charania] Breaking: The Buss family has decided to sell its remaining 17.8% ownership stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to new majority owners Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, sources tell ESPN.
Fire Adam Silver
Dennis Schroder on moving so much: “The media make it worse than it is,” he assures. “The teams pay for everything for us, we continue to live just as we lived before. The children are homeschooling, our family comes to visit two or three times a year - nothing changes.”
[Charania] Jeanie Buss was the lone family member not in favor to sell as the five siblings voted 5-0 to sell the Buss stake, sources said. Jeanie Buss’ attorney says tonight that she intends to battle the remainder of the family in order to keep their shares.
[Amick] An ESPN spokesman sent this statement to The Athletic: “We stand by our reporting, which included numerous attempts by ESPN to get comment from the NBA.”
[Pablo Torre] In response to the Holmes/Charania report: “When the time is right: I am extremely, extremely excited for our episode about this. 👀”
Anthony Edwards disses Nike in freestyle preformed in the Philippines
Can Nikola Jokic now sign for veteran minimum and get 300 million on the side for planting few trees?
[Murray] The NBA has released a statement as well this morning (regarding ESPN story on Kawhi Leonard and Clippers)
[Markazi] Jim, Johnny, Joey and Jesse Buss had the chance to cash in on the record sale of the Lakers and effectively fire Jeanie Buss as governor and did just that. Jeanie has fired or sued all of her brothers since taking control of the team. It’s the final act of a wild reality show.
[Holmes] Jeanie Buss to her half-brother Jesse Buss in 2019: “You should’ve never been born.”
[Amick] “ESPN’s article regarding the LA Clippers investigation — for which the NBA declined to cooperate — contains numerous and significant inaccuracies,” the league statement read. “The results in this matter will be made clear once the investigation is concluded.”
Derek Jeter on Michael Jordan playing baseball: “He went from Little League to Double-A and hit .200. That’s not easy to do. My first year, I was a high school Player of the Year. I went to rookie ball and hit .202. I had a great two weeks. I was hot the last two weeks to get just over .200”.
Tyrese Haliburton: “[The Kings] were telling me after my rookie year ‘Hey man you’re gonna be here awhile, you should look into buying a house’, I was like ‘I’m good, I’m good, I don’t gotta worry bout nothin’.”
[Simmons] The Clippers story is 1/1000th as interesting as Mark Walter frantically selling his sports assets one by one right now…
Tyrese Haliburton tells us what it’s really like to get traded in the NBA. via the Numbers on the Board Podcast
Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss opposes sale of family’s stake to Bob Iger, Joshua Kushner
[Holmes, Van Natta, Shelburne] Sources: NBA has no evidence Ballmer funneled money to Leonard via sponsors
[Charnaria] Once the transaction is completed, Jeanie Buss will no longer have the required ownership percentage to remain governor. NBA guidelines require controlling owners/ governors to own at least 15% of a franchise.
No sale of the JAB Trust’s 17.8% interest in the Lakers can be effectuated without approval by all the current co-trustees Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss. Under the JAB Trust and Court Order, they must vote the shares to maintain the 15% minimum needed for Jeanie Buss to remain Controlling Owner.
[McMenamin]Lakers senior VP of finance, Joe McCormack, called for an emergency meeting of the Buss siblings last Monday to discuss a dissolution of the family trust and seeking unanimous approval to lock down all family shares for four years under a new trust
NBA blasts ESPN for ‘inaccuracies’ in report on Kawhi Leonard-Clippers investigation
[Charania]Statement from the Buss family to ESPN:
[ESPN] Instead (of Ballmer), the NBA is focused on whether the team’s introduction of Leonard to team sponsors constitutes a violation of the league’s rules prohibitiNg salary cap circumvention. The league is examining whether the Clippers are guilty of “failure to supervise” employees.
Boki Nachbar-Karl Malone incident. Malone undercuts a dunking Boki. Boki then blocks Malone, who gets triggerred.
[The Athletic] Former Lakers owner Mark Walter in talks to sell shares in Chelsea F.C. to Clearlake Capital.
Why do people think David Stern would be harsher on owners than Silver has been?
[Highlight] 37-year-old Dwyane Wade hits a fadeaway jumper and then back-to-back 3s, and then another banked 3-pointer, scoring 4 threes in the 4th quarter, two of them banked in, in his last home game for the Miami Heat and in the NBA. April 9th, 2019.
[ESPN] The league’s investigation examined deals with companies including Daktronics and Boingo Wireless, a wireless provider for the Intuit Dome, sources familiar with the inquiry said.
There seems to be some misunderstandings/misinformation going around right now, so let’s make it clear: Kawhi Leonard did NOT receive max money on his 2024-27 extension
[Shelburne] The five other siblings who voted to sell this morning believe that the tag along provision in the sale to Mark Walter—essentially that the family has the right to tag along to a sale at the valuation Walter got—gives them the right to do so.
Only 23 times in league history has a player recorded a triple double after turning 38. LeBron has done it 20 times.
[Stein] Hawks assistant GM Kyle Korver is leaving the franchise after four years in Atlanta’s front office
[Lewenberg] Important to remember. Raptors aren’t waiting on a final resolution to the seemingly endless investigation/legal process. They just need to be certain that Kawhi isn’t getting hit with a max penalty (void contract) to sign off on the trade. Those assurances could be coming soon.
Joe Tsai on the Knicks’ title: “Every year, some team is going to win a championship. So it happens that this year that team is in the same city. It doesn’t make us feel very good. It irates our fan base and it is embarrassing…we’re rebuilding and I think right now we are on a positive trajectory.”
[Highlight] Larry Johnson’s 4 Point Play vs the Pacers
Ramona Shelburne: “They [5 Buss family members] have a tag-along provision, very legal. They have a right to tag along to any sale if Mark Walter were to sell his shares… Kushner and Iger have no comment right now.”
Tyrese Haliburton: “My Golden State workout, that was the best workout of my life… I was like ‘They’re drafting me at 2’ and then in the interview they were like ‘We know you fit us perfect. We know you fit us perfect, but we don’t know if we can draft you at 2.”
From \(10 billion to \)12.5 billion in under 14 months. What does the Lakers sale about the future of NBA valuations?
Wemby, Gobert, and Raynaud next to each other for a photoshoot.
[Highlights] The top 10 plays from the 1982 NBA Finals.
Victor Wembanyama on why the French national team jersey carries more weight than others, including the Spurs jersey
[Stein] League sources say that the Washington Wizards made a two-year offer to bring Westbrook back to the nation’s capital. Sources say Westbrook apparently balked at the specific terms of the offer and/or the role presented and decided to stop playing instead.
Do you think MIP should be given to a player who went from bad to okay, or from okay to great.
FT Exclusive: Chelsea shareholders MARK WALTER AND Todd Boehly in talks to sell their stakes to Clearlake