Typical_Response6444 | Knicks

1447 | a day ago

Better start making those shell companies buddy

cleo22270 [OP] | Heat

582 | a day ago

MLE LLC

Bird Rights and Wrongs

Second Apron Station

VampireOnHoyt | Spurs

198 | a day ago

Legitimate Businessmen’s Social Club LLC

Longjumping_Loan6330

126 | a day ago

Circumvent The Cap (a hat store)

ThunderBobMajerle | Suns

77 | a day ago

The second apron (a thrift kitchen store, cash based business, very easy to launder)

Singnedupforthis

28 | a day ago

Trickle Down

A gutter and rain barrel installation buisness for wealthy home owners

fullmetalsprockets

11 | a day ago

They also do bathroom renos.

Singnedupforthis

7 | 21 hours ago

Specializing in Golden shower service

Brock_Hard_Canuck | Raptors

2 | 12 hours ago

Circumcise The Cap (a contracting organization for mohels)

ositola | Lakers

12 | 21 hours ago

Cash considerations llc

dont-YOLO-ragequit | Raptors

9 | 21 hours ago

Cash considerations trust

kloppyd

2 | 16 hours ago

Aspirations Basket Weaving L.L.C.

kjw2281

64 | a day ago

Get ready to learn Aspirationese, buddy!

leftsidenotright | Knicks

20 | a day ago

Breaking: Tyrese Maxey signs part time sandwich making gig at WaWa

NanoCurrency

19 | a day ago

Make sure to name them something completely opaque that can never be traced like…

KL2 Aspire LLC

Ok_Hornet_714

7 | 21 hours ago

Totally Legal Shell Company LLC

bush_league_commish | Celtics

10 | a day ago

Better start learning Cayman Island buddy

This_Material9292 | Heat

10 | a day ago

LBJ Vetmin LLC

TwoTalentedBastidz | Lakers

3 | 19 hours ago

Get ready to speak fraudanese, pal

General-Clue377

1 | 19 hours ago

wait how does money laundering link to the clippers case

simplycass | Clippers

3 | 12 hours ago

Paying more money to Kawhi through another corporation is a tactic for money laundering.

mchan05

1 | 5 hours ago

Basketball Reasons Inc

OpeDefinitely | Pacers

843 | a day ago

Clippers should be punished the most. Then any involved FO staff. And then Kawhi & Kawhi’s agent. That’s how you root this shit out.

The proportion of media focus that’s on Kawhi himself rather than other involved parties feels insane. I get it with the trade and all that, but holy shit.

Pickleskennedy1

336 | a day ago

It’s very intentional. There was a video posted here a ways back of ESPN commentators simultaneously blaming Kawhi for taking money that Ballmer willingly was giving him to sign him and holding Ballmer blameless

OpeDefinitely | Pacers

135 | a day ago

“What were we doing to do? Refuse to pay Kawhi under the table, then report him to the NBA + the NBAPA? Snitch and get stiches? In these streets?” - Balmer/Clippers in a best case fact pattern wherein Kawhi initiated the whole thing.

Weak as fuck lol.

Salty_Helicopter9356 | Nuggets

33 | a day ago

Not weak. Coordinated.

BUNSHICHl | Raptors

7 | 18 hours ago

That’s literally what’s the 2 other teams in Kawhi free agency chase did in 2019. He’s definitely been getting paid under the table since then too 😂

If you believe otherwise I’ve got a bridge to sell you 😭

EnriquezGuerrilla | Lakers

3 | 19 hours ago

Extra, extra! Adam Silver caught Spineless, AGAIN!

DisMFer | Bulls

11 | a day ago

What do you expect the rich white man to face consequences for his actions? This is American damn it. We don’t do that shit here.

ThisIsPureTrash | Bucks

130 | a day ago

Seriously. Players can ask for anything they want, it’s on the teams to say “are you fucking dumb?”

Longjumping_Loan6330

122 | a day ago

Which is why every team said this… but the clippers

BatmanNoPrep | Lakers

41 | a day ago

I’m convinced that the Lakers (Magic Johnson) may have done it if they hadn’t gotten hit with the mother of all tampering fines the year beforehand. I also believe that the tampering of Paul George was secretly resolved by Adam Silver ordering PG to re-sign with the Thunder.

Silver actually had that authority to force a player to sign with his home team (OKC) for the terms of the tampering team (Lakers) under the old CBA if he found that tampering occurred,

PG curiously re-signed with OKC for the max he would’ve gotten from the Lakers. Not the max he could’ve received from the Thunder. Even down to the non-home team raises and no 5th year player option. Why would he give OKC such a team friendly discount after putting up an All-NBA season?

The Westbrook midnight nightclub party signing made no sense. Westbrook doesn’t even hang out in night clubs. He’s a family man who famously doesn’t go out late but did so for this one moment that also happened to be a photo op.

PG had a big ESPN documentary about his deep connections to LA that had to be delayed and suddenly ended with a hamfisted conclusion of him deciding to return to OKC despite the entire special being about him growing up a Laker fan in Palmdale and wanting to be a Laker when he grew up.

The Lakers suddenly had no plan on how to use LeBron during his first season in LA even though they’d cleared enough cap space to sign PG and trade for AD (but got Pop blocked). So it was just LeBron and the kids with Coach Luka Walton wasting a year.

And finally, Magic went on Jimmy Kimmel and admitted to literally tampering to get PG. Magic spontaneously resigned midway through the season after having his independent authority reduced by management. Pelinka handed his phone over to the league for the investigation which likely means the clumsy tampering was on Magic and not Rob.

So yeah. That shit show and massive fine and conspiracy theory punishment probably made Pelinka gun shy about even discussing Aspiration shit the next year and the guy who likely would’ve clumsily bulldozed into that sort of conversation (Magic) had thankfully resigned already.

Longjumping_Loan6330

20 | a day ago

Then it worked as intended, yeah? Hopefully they do enough to make the clippers gun shy about doing it again, too. Especially because this isn’t their first infraction

BatmanNoPrep | Lakers

4 | a day ago

Absolutely. The only difference between this and then is that is Pablo is forcing Silver to do the punishment out in the open. With Paul George and the Lakers he could keep the player penalty a secret and just fine the team publicly.

We just saw something similar with the Bucks and Gary Trent Jr. Unless Pablo forces Silver’s hand it’ll be handled behind closed doors.

ThisIsPureTrash | Bucks

2 | 16 hours ago

Yeah I’m not opposed to handling stuff internally. It’s the smartest thing you can do, the problem is that normal lack of transparency looks awful when the problem has breached containment into the media world.

trevorturtle | Lakers

3 | 21 hours ago

The Lakers owners are not rich like Ballmer though. Well no owner is, but Lakers owners are some of the least rich owners

thetitsOO | Lakers

2 | 20 hours ago

We’re talking about an extra 50m here, they’re not Ballmer rich but they can absolutely cobble together 50m over 4 years

tangential_quip | Lakers

62 | a day ago

No. If a player asks for an agreement that would violate the circumvention rules that is itself a violation.

ders9612

29 | a day ago

^^^And only Uncle Dennis would have done it. I’d be very surprised if a professional agent is asking teams to circumvent the cap.

Sincerely,
A spurs fan

Faust86 | NBA

3 | 20 hours ago

But the thing is Uncle Dennis is not a professional agent. He is just a hanger on family member. According to one exec, family members ask for shit that probably violates the CBA all the time. The problem is Dennis turns it up to 11.

dearth_karmic | Warriors

8 | a day ago

Yes. It’s both. But Ballmer can’t claim ignorance.

AllOutRaptors | Raptors

49 | a day ago

Literally every other team was like “yeah we definitely can’t do that”. If the Clippers followed suit this wouldve been a complete non-story. I can almost guarantee Kawhi isnt the first player to try and get a little extra in a negotiation before

Thommywidmer | MIL

19 | a day ago

Allot of players probably pissed at how greedy kawhi was here. Id bet theres allot of perks and gifts floating around that werent ever a big deal that might come under allot of scrutiny if the hammer comes down

CptCroissant | Trail Blazers

6 | a day ago

Kawhi was very openly like this too. There were lots of reports of Uncle Dennis fishing around prospective teams for extra (illegal) benefits before Kawhi signed.

AllOutRaptors | Raptors

3 | a day ago

Which is hilarious because this was widely known and reported to the league and they just didnt care. They only care now because its caused bad publicity

MrArtless | Warriors

25 | a day ago

why are are pretending its ok to ask for crimes to be comitted on your behalf just because the other person can refuse? both things are wrong

ThisIsPureTrash | Bucks

3 | a day ago

He can ask. The teams can turn him in.

Problem solved and no teams have any issues like we have today. Maybe players wouldn’t ask if they knew it wouldnt be rewarded and instead got them a suspension or ban.

OpeDefinitely | Pacers

15 | a day ago

“Your honor, I’m just a poor prison guard. All these prisoners ask for crack all the time. What was I supposed to do? Not give the prisoners crack? Therefore, I was justified to give the prisoners crack & you should only punish the prisoners.”

Razzmatazz856 | Kings

13 | a day ago

Players can ask for anything they want

Players who ask for anything that cannot possibly be explained away in good faith should be punished harshly.

ThisIsPureTrash | Bucks

11 | a day ago

I dont disagree, but this is still fully on the clippers for agreeing to do dumb shit.

Guess what happens if they tell the league he asked for instead of giving it to him? They aren’t in any of this shit.

Razzmatazz856 | Kings

8 | a day ago

A team that provides improper compensation should absolutely be hammered significantly harder than a player who asks for it.

If the Clippers didn’t give him the improper compensation, then Leonard never plays for the Clippers. Of course, they then don’t trade SGA and likely end up significantly better, but that requires hindsight.

Conflict_NZ | Lakers

6 | a day ago

Wrong, players cannot solicit anything that would circumvent the CBA, which Kawhi’s demands did. The NBA didn’t do anything about it, and we ended up with this situation.

Krillin113 | 76ers

6 | a day ago

No; players are also prohibited from asking for illegal shit.

Diqt | Toronto Huskies

1 | 20 hours ago

Not crazy about that stance, I get it but Kawhi and his agent are grown men that know the rules. Punish them all

srector1224 | Nuggets

36 | a day ago

I also think we should punish the Thunder for being a party to this whole thing

Ignore my flair

OpeDefinitely | Pacers

7 | a day ago

Punish the Thunder for having a GM who looks like a Hunger Games villain.

srector1224 | Nuggets

9 | a day ago

As long as we reach the destination, I care not the path we take

Lou_Peachum_2 | Clippers

3 | 18 hours ago

Let’s punish the Lakers too… for sharing the same city.

srector1224 | Nuggets

3 | 18 hours ago

Seconded!!

JMoon33 | Cabo Verde

3 | a day ago

And the Kansas City Chiefs too please

AstronomerDramatic36 | Rockets

27 | a day ago

This is America. We don’t go after the rich here.

AffectionateDark9270 | Raptors

31 | a day ago

…unless it effects other rich people.

You let this go and every superstar will be demanding this.

AstronomerDramatic36 | Rockets

9 | a day ago

*unless it affects richer people.

Which is why the focus is on the player, not the owner. Either way its not “letting it go”. This is more about how.

Maximum-Class5465

6 | a day ago

Yeah, it’s a club of rich people and they can’t compete with Balmer money. So now they want equality 😂

captain_ahabb | Lakers

18 | a day ago

Ballmer ripped off other rich people though

AstronomerDramatic36 | Rockets

7 | a day ago

Yeah but he’s the richest, so its ok, probably. We’ll see.

captain_ahabb | Lakers

4 | a day ago

I think that Old Money Rich Guys love using their made-up rules to humiliate New Money Rich Guys. That’s why you can’t buy your way into Augusta.

Ballmer’s wealth is largely irrelevant here I think.

AstronomerDramatic36 | Rockets

6 | a day ago

That would be interesting and it is possible here since they have Balmer outnumbered.

And it’d absolutely be in their own interest. Ive just kinda lost hope in those types ever being held accountable.

captain_ahabb | Lakers

9 | a day ago

I get why people feel that way but I think this is less Epstein and more Bernie Madoff.

AstronomerDramatic36 | Rockets

5 | a day ago

The thing is it should be. The incentives are aligned in that way.

A net worth of $124B gets you a lot of influence, though, and that seems to win most things lately.

Maximum-Class5465

3 | a day ago

I think it’s relevant to media spin, and irrelevant to the investigation. The other rich people want equality since they are all rich, and Balmer has so much money.

Safe-Flounder-8267

25 | a day ago

Kawhi will be the scapegoat. He already fired his uncle earlier this month. Ballmer will get a slap on the wrist and maybe a fine. Silver is a spineless coward.

Reeko_Htown | Rockets

9 | a day ago

Ballmer is a VICTIM!

Conflict_NZ | Lakers

8 | a day ago

I’m starting to suspect it will be Uncle Dennis (as he’s the one who directly called Aspiration about the payments) and some sacrificial Clippers FO member. It’s starting to seem like the league will protect Kawhi/Ballmer.

dearth_karmic | Warriors

1 | a day ago

Kawhi will be the scapegoat.

No chance. Kawhi asked for the money. Ballmer circumvented the cap.

PositiveCoyote100

7 | a day ago

The Clipped and Kawhi should be punished equally.

They were equal partners in agreeing to circumvent the salary cap. They both violated the CBA.

CampAny9995

2 | 5 hours ago

Yeah I’m not actually opposed to a lifetime ban of Kawhi, and I like Kawhi a lot as a player.

TreesLikeGodsFingers | Bulls

6 | a day ago

Grow a pair and kick kawhi from the league. They won’t do it though bc he’s a star. I’m over this shit tho, ban his ass. Let him play in China or Europe

karl_hungas | Lakers

4 | a day ago

Agreed but also Kawhi asked multiple teams for inappropriate benefits. He should be heavily punished.

Delanorix | Knicks

3 | a day ago

I agree they left Ballmer off easy, but Kawhi anf Uncle Denis allegedly asked for this deal from multiple different franchises.

Allegedly, the Lakers turned him in for it.

PositiveCoyote100

4 | a day ago

The Clippers and Kawhi should be punished equally.

They were equal partners in agreeing to circumvent the salary cap. They both violated the CBA. They are both responsible.

They cheated. They tried to gain a competitive advantage by cheating the system.

purz | Knicks

2 | a day ago

I think Tom Brady should be punished the most then the rest of those guys

Timmytinytits

1 | a day ago

Nothing is getting rooted out short of them forcing Ballmer to sell the team again, which they won’t do.

Welcome to the new NBA.

OpeDefinitely | Pacers

8 | a day ago

There are other ways to punish the Clippers without making Balmer sell the team. At least for a first offense, where the idea should be to distribute a material amount of the Clippers’ value to other teams. Fine them to hell, take draft capital, and so-on.

If the NBA does as much & Balmer keeps doing the same shit, then you have to find a way to force him to sell the team.

Adam Silver is softer on crime than the pope though. He’s not going to do shit.

wxnfx

1 | a day ago

Not sell, just rescind the team’s membership in the league and allow an expansion team to get all their assets. And fine him another billion before the rescission.

dearth_karmic | Warriors

2 | a day ago

Clippers should be punished the most.

Balmer should get punished the most. Kick him out of the NBA and allow the Clippers to keep all of their picks. What did the fans do wrong?

Jamar1James23

2 | 21 hours ago

Any other superstar player doing this would be in PR Hell rn, kawhi has gotten off light af

CurrentCostanza | Trail Blazers

1 | a day ago

If I tell my accountant to not pay my taxes, should he get punished while I receive no punishment? Isn’t my request the whole reason why something wrong happened?

OpeDefinitely | Pacers

11 | a day ago

If you ask your accountant to break the law for you and he does it, then yes: both you and your accountant are bound to get in trouble if audited.

If you simply ask your accountant not to handle your taxes, then you fired your accountant and everything is on you.

generationhex | Pistons

1 | a day ago

This is the American Way, actually.

We have an illegal immigration issue? It’s all on the backs of the workers and we will arrest them if suspected of that. But we NEVER talk about reprimanding the people who hire the illegal immigrant. Like, it’s not even mentioned. This is by design, and it’s not at all surprising to see it implemented at the highest levels of capitalism. They cannot let the working class think for a moment that the “job makers” are doing anything wrong systematically, or risk the whole thing being undone.

Fuck the NBA and all of the owners, they don’t own the game of basketball. But they want us to think they do.

ClaymoresRevenge | Bulls

1 | 21 hours ago

League should force him to stay on the Clippers but void his contract. No pay

allianceofficer

1 | 20 hours ago

Make players afraid to do anything shady. Ban Kawhi for life.

PerniciousHamster | Brazil

1 | 19 hours ago

yeah there’s no way this isn’t coordinated. billionaires doing their thing, ig. fucking dire times

danhoyuen | Raptors

1 | 12 hours ago

what about the raptors. Surely trading for a player under investigation is stupid enough to warrant some punishment of some sort.

byteturtle | Suns

583 | a day ago

Every team will need a Skyler White on the payroll

GunpeiYokai | Lakers

283 | a day ago

Free agents will suddenly own nail salon, car wash, and laser tag franchises

AffectionateDark9270 | Raptors

158 | a day ago

Skylar would have never signed off on the aspiration deal. At the least she would’ve told Kawhi to post trees on his social media as a cover

RulersBack | Cavaliers

61 | a day ago

A little cheating was nothing compared to the value she provided as a ride or die. I never understood the hate

esports_consultant

54 | a day ago

I think the hate was just that she was irritating to hear at times. Nothing as bad as Marie of course.

fullmetalsprockets

28 | a day ago

They’re minerals, Marie!

esports_consultant

5 | 21 hours ago

I literally have to skip through her scenes on a rewatch. She is a very accurately constructed character (this is generally a big reason behind the success of the show) and I feel bad for her in some sense, but it is just impossible to subject myself to.

wallysmith127 | Lakers

21 | a day ago

I didn’t hate her then but on a rewatch she comes off better. No one likes a persistent liar

soapy_goatherd | UTA

21 | a day ago

It’s a lot easier to see Walt as the monster he is the second time around. People in general are just kinda primed to root for the “protagonist” so that’s a lot of it I think

imadogg | Lakers

13 | 21 hours ago

It’s as simple as that. Walt was the protagonist and on the first watch we all had a different scene/episode where we finally decided that he’s evil and irredeemable. Until then Skyler is one of the people getting in his way and trying to stop the “fun”

On a rewatch you can see how shitty this dude is since the start and how shitty it would be to live with a guy like that, and be stuck with his secrets

The_Duke_of_Nebraska

2 | a day ago

A lot of people hate their moms

nokarmawhore | Spurs

2 | 18 hours ago

every spurs player will own a churro stand

GunpeiYokai | Lakers

3 | 18 hours ago

There’s always money in the ~~banana~~ churro stand.

Prize-Temporary4159

2 | 18 hours ago

Naw, they’ll just be bidding on govt contracts like all the other ‘legitimate’ businesses.

AirBamaInt

1 | a day ago

In fact, it’ll be a requirement in the next CBA

GenoThyme | Celtics

58 | a day ago

I fucked ~~Ted~~ Ime

p00chology | Bulls

28 | a day ago

I’m Skylar White, YO

bcou2012

7 | a day ago

Every owner already has a Skyler White on payroll somewhere

bromli2000

3 | a day ago

Laser tag?!

fullmetalsprockets

5 | a day ago

Lots of groups of people coming through all day. Same theory as a car wash.

InternationalCod442 | Knicks

3 | a day ago

Yo

InternalMuffin5882

2 | 20 hours ago

Skylar white yo

guzzler_bennett_jr

1 | 15 hours ago

🎶 Happy Birthday, Mr. President (of Basketball Operations) 🎵

Mo_Salami |

241 | a day ago

Agreed. The whole collective bargaining agreement and its associated rules all become moot if Aspiration deals are even hypothetical

cleo22270 [OP] | Heat

93 | a day ago

The only variable that makes me believe the league might come down hard is how the owners went out of the way to impose the apron system in the latest CBA.

Most of these billionaires are trying to not spend more money than they have to.

Hell, Dundon must be shitting bricks at the prospect of having to pay side deals on top of an NBA roster.

QuietRainyDay

40 | a day ago

That’s what I’m thinking too

In the end, allowing these side deals to proliferate is in nobody’s interest except for 2 or 3 mega-rich owners and a handful of star players

For most of the league, most fans, and even most players, this is a very bad thing that needs to be stopped. If it’s not stopped now, 10 years from now investigators, lawyers, and journalists will be uncovering webs of shell companies spanning the entire globe, trying to figure out exactly how much certain chips and teams are tainted.

Statalyzer

6 | a day ago

Owners who don’t mind spending more money in order to win might actually want to be able to get away with this sort of thing. But most would rather not spend the money. A rare situation where I think the 2nd group is in the right….

rocpilehardasfuk | Warriors

2 | 21 hours ago

Dundon ain’t even looking to cover per diem for the players anymore. Let them pack their own lunch boxes prolly

And take the bus…

Not-JustinTV

1 | 14 hours ago

Dundon will make players pay for their hotel rooms

fastheadcrab | Raptors

2 | 16 hours ago

Amin Elhassan is like the equivalent of Sam Amico of front office “insiders.” His reports have no credibility

thy_armageddon | Knicks

86 | a day ago

There’s just zero realistic way Clippers are the only people who do this, they just literally did all the things in the most obvious way.

TwoKnees | LAL

48 | a day ago

Totally agree that it’s obvious that the Clippers have done some nefarious activity, but it only feels like this because of the federal whistleblower and the subsequent investigation from Pablo right? Like if Aspiration wasn’t otherwise fraudulent it’s very possible this never gets discovered. Especially since the clippers were apparently already investigated back in 2019 or whenever they signed Kawhi

thy_armageddon | Knicks

27 | a day ago

Correct, if Aspiration doesn’t get put under scrutiny for defrauding investors, none of this would see the light of day most likely.

Seref15 | Heat

9 | a day ago

Its basically undiscoverable under ordinary circumstances. Company A signing a contract to pay Person B doesn’t have to be known by anyone except A, B, and the IRS–unless a bunch of documents are made public.

So theres probably a dozen of these deals around the league, maybe smaller in scope/pay.

Saitsuofleaves

31 | a day ago

I absolutely believe more teams do this. What I don’t believe is the pervailing theory that the majority of the league does it.

fearnodarkness1

8 | 21 hours ago

Amen. People have been saying “well everyone does it” implies it’s common behaviour when it absolutely isn’t.

hittheroadjon | Bulls

6 | 16 hours ago

Ain’t no way Reinsdorf spending one more cent than necessary lol

rocpilehardasfuk | Warriors

3 | 21 hours ago

Many teams do the GTJ stuff.

Or even the Warriors Jimmy thing where they “agreed to an extension” even before he was traded. Which too is making an unwritten promise. The Jimmy one is insanely tame.

Only Clippers got caught though

trevorturtle | Lakers

2 | 21 hours ago

Not to this extent though c’mon

Armanewb | Spurs

1 | 21 hours ago

Sounds like the Saints and Bountygate. You still gotta come down on it hard to send a message to cut that shit out.

penguin_torpedo | Nuggets

1 | 19 hours ago

I mean they might be, Ballmer is by far the most loaded owner.

roarmalf | Wizards

1 | 19 hours ago

Regardless of whether or not they do it, if the league doesn’t crack down on this obvious, publicly documented violation then every team will have to start doing it to remain competitive

Mtthom06 | Lakers

59 | a day ago

They should get the death penalty for this shit. This is literally damn near the worst thing a sports team can do to undermine competitive fairness….. Other than throw games while gambling

Sircamembert | Lakers

22 | a day ago

But the offending owner is a billionaire! Think of all the jobs that are lost if we hurt his feelings!!!

attersonjb

10 | a day ago

If we’re talking about competitive fairness, the GTJ signing is 100X worse than this.

Kawhi was getting paid the max and wanted more. IIRC, the Clippers were operating above the cap anyway. In the case of GTJ, the minimum contracts actually allowed the Bucks to go out and get Myles Turner.

SwampFlowers | Bulls

3 | a day ago

What do you mean by death penalty? Dissolve the Clippers franchise?

Mtthom06 | Lakers

19 | a day ago

No. Ban from playoffs for a few years, fines, and draft picks taken away. Problem is they traded away alot of them

SoKrat3s | NBA

3 | a day ago

The draft pick penalty doesn’t matter because as many as you were going to take away you can still do that into the future.

And I believe they own their own pick from 2030 on.
They also get a pick in 2029 via a swap.

paddiction | SAS

11 | a day ago

Firing squad for Steve Ballmer

blowtreesgetmoney | Lakers

4 | a day ago

If it’s like the infamous SMU death penalty from the 80s, it’ll be something like the Clippers don’t play any games next season and they would lose all draft picks for x amount of years as well as having a smaller salary cap than every other team.

Tombomb1994

2 | a day ago

Woah woah woah lets not jump to dissolving the entire Clippers franchise in acid. That seems very extreme, I think the good old chair will do just fine.

rumblegod | Thunder

50 | a day ago

Players mad af at Kawhi lowkey lmao

Zotzotbaby

57 | a day ago

They should be too. Sponsorships are about to go from unregulated to regulated by the league office.

If the NBAPA were smart they should come out for Kawhi getting punished to get in front of this.

kingcobweb | Nuggets

33 | a day ago

Union organizer here:

A union, whether it’s strategically wise or not, has a *legal obligation* to fairly and without bias represent everyone of its members, including ones that have actually violated the company’s rules/the contract.

They can’t come out and say “yeah Kawhi should get punished” (without his approval) any more than a defense attorney can say “you’re honor ngl this guy’s guilty as hell” in order to get a favorable ruling in their other cases.

-fallen | NYK

14 | 21 hours ago

not much of a “union” if they’re willing to throw one of their own under the bus

Junior_Chard9981

6 | 20 hours ago

Yeah that’s actually kind of wild to say “You are protected by the union…until you’re not.” 😳

YujiDomainExpansion

31 | a day ago

It’s crazy how there are team executives throughout the NBA with a wide variety of opinions on this. Fischer and Stein said they spoke to several as well who feel like the Clippers and Kawhi won’t get punished. Vorkunov said several team execs expect them to get punished.

Is this a good time to remind everyone that Elhassan has essentially been Torre’s right-hand man on these podcast episodes? Feel like it’d be his prerogative to say a team exec said this. Besides, would any of them actively admit something to this out loud? Even with the promise of anonymity? “If the Clippers don’t get punished we are going to start cheating too?” feels like, even as a joke, could get you fired in the NBA.

Laggo | TOR

9 | a day ago

lol, the ‘issue’ is that this already happens in the NBA all over the place and has been a gray area for like two decades that the league would mostly prefer to keep a gray area until the bankruptcy documents for this particular company were discovered which made a story.

Do people not realize for like the last 10 years when all the free agents were supposedly ‘banned’ from talking to teams until the timer opened and then 10 people would sign whenever the free agency period officially started on the minute is under the same umbrella as all this Aspiration stuff?

Just like those situations, sponsorships in the NBA and deals between companies and teams/players have always been a nebulous area that the NBA prefers not to keep a close eye on. There are specifically not that many provisions in the CBA to deal with these kinds of relationships.

A famous one a while back was when the billionaire Mikael Prokhorov owned the Nets and he convinced an older AK-47 Andrei Kirilenko to take a much smaller deal than he would have been offered to play with them. After he retired, Mikael put in a “strong word” to the Russian basketball federation and he was then elected the President there.

Ok_Pineapple_Num | Warriors

8 | a day ago

You’re correct, and this is a good point that 95% of people here are missing.

Elhassan is not an objective bystander or a reliable narrator. He has been Pablo’s right-hand man the whole way. It’s in his interest to pick out the most salacious quotes, even if most people in the NBA feel otherwise. Pablo’s initial reporting on this was fantastic and brilliant; but he’s since devolved into conspiracy theorizing and misrepresentation of facts. I take all of their new reporting with heavy caution as a result.

NothingInfinite4690

15 | a day ago

what facts have been misrepresented?

merriweather_pp

5 | a day ago

Pablo implied a few months ago that it was suspicious that Ballmer was paying Wachtell’s fees and that investigators could be seen as working for Ballmer. Also that him paying them for unlimited billable hours could lead them to make findings in his favor.

Another more recent example about a “secret side deal” that Ballmer had with Aspiration which was just a put option on his investment.

Also, Pablo’s big “smoking gun” announcement at the Sloan conference was that an Aspiration whistleblower made a complaint to the SEC claiming NBA cap circumvention, but there was no followup about whether the SEC actually looked into this.

Ok_Pineapple_Num | Warriors

3 | a day ago

A prominent recent example was him suggesting that Larry Tanenbaum (of the Raptors) being the chairman of the Board of Governors was suspicious or created some sort of conflict of interest. Bc the Board has a hand in punishing Ballmer, and the Clippers traded Kawhi to the Raptors.

When the reality is that being chairman of the Board grants zero special power in determining punishment.

In other words, Pablo was taking a mundane fact and representing it as nefarious when it isn’t.

JPZ4

3 | 21 hours ago

Having worked very closely with many boards, the chair does have a significant amount of soft power that could absolutely materially affect a decision such as this. Not saying this specific case had that to be fair. Just that because a chair doesn’t have sole discretion, that doesn’t mean you can count out their ability to alter board decisions.

LiterallyAntiqueBody

17 | a day ago

No one will be held accountable. It just doesn’t happen for people with money, especially not in the US.

Est-Tech79

17 | a day ago

When other billionaire owners are slighted like this, there will be punishment. It’s happened in the NBA before. Timberwolves punishment for this, set that franchise back.

$7 mill is max fine for team. But at least 1 first round pick will be taken and Kawhi, the beneficiary, will be suspended at least 40 games.

LiterallyAntiqueBody

6 | a day ago

Let’s hope so. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Xtra2022

11 | a day ago

It’s absolutely true. If the NBA doesn’t ding Clippers, then it’s open season for salary circumvention. SGA will sign his next contract extension for the vet minimum, and his cousin gets a “consulting“ gig at the owner’s company that pays him $100M a year. The punishment for the Clippers has to be heavy enough that owners and GMs shudder at the thought of future deals that smells even slightly off.

vaalbarag | Raptors

10 | a day ago

I think regardless of the actual punishment for the Clippers, there’s going to be a whole new set of rules for teams, owners, agents and players to report on potential ties to sponsorships (with a couple years grace time so teams can wrap up or legitimize their current under-the-table stuff). And everyone is going to hate it.

Swolyguacomole

6 | a day ago

Just call Chauncey billups, he must be a good GM or know a good GM in the new era

wellggs | Heat

7 | a day ago

Amino Acid

allianceofficer

6 | 20 hours ago

Balmer should be forced to sell. Draft picks forfeited. Kawhi life ban. Anything less is a failure by the NBA.

eking85 | Heat

5 | a day ago

Money laundering? They gon’ come talk to me about money laundering in the western conference?! Shhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiitttttttttt.

thacarter1523 | Mavericks

4 | a day ago

This feels like Amin just bragging that he talked to a team exec. Otherwise this info is pretty worthless.

joeb1ow

2 | a day ago

You do realize Amin used to be an exec for the Suns and therefore has a bajillion potential sources in the league, do you?

thacarter1523 | Mavericks

2 | 20 hours ago

He was an exec for one year and that was like ten years ago. And his short history as an exec has nothing to do with my point, which is that the only real utility of this info is to brag about his connections.

KL2ConspireLLC | San Diego Clippers

4 | a day ago

my job becomes money launderer

That’s not true. Their job would become money launderer recruiter. They’re not laundering the money themselves.

Loud_Examination_138

3 | a day ago

Man, if the clippers and Ballmer get hammered here, then that would be so hawt…and on brand for them

3entendre | Warriors

3 | a day ago

If someone isn’t going to put a name to a quote, why should it be newsworthy or even get attention?! Anyone can say anything controversial and attribute it to an anonymous source. It’s bs

joeb1ow

1 | a day ago

Amin Elhassan put his name up as someone who directly heard the quote from an NBA exec.

That’s good enough for me.

givemetaxhelp

3 | a day ago

“And then everyone clapped because all us rich people definitely definitely hate more money.”

theDoinItPart | Kings

2 | a day ago

It’s kinda ironic how we’re in the most parity-driven time in league history which results in great seasons but at the same time Adam Silver is in a multitude of economic-level shattering events that can change the perception of the league and its players.

mbr4life1 | Knicks

2 | a day ago

This is why they have to punish them harshly or everyone will be forced to cheat the same way.

brownchickenbr0wnc0w | NBA

2 | a day ago

At this point if nothing happens then they should just get rid of the salary cap then?

Animefan420lol | NBA

2 | 21 hours ago

Call in right now 855-NBA-JUMP

caipivodka

2 | 20 hours ago

Yeah, every GM is going to start calculating risk-ratio to cap circumvention. It’s basically the job.

pargofan | Lakers

2 | 16 hours ago

“becomes money launderer?”

There’s no way Ballmer was the first. There’s no way Kawhi’s uncle was so brazen in his non-salary comp demands unless there’s been other people who’ve insisted on this.

And, knowing full well that Kawhi did this, there’s no way that Adam Silver wouldn’t have gone super saiyan all over Uncle Dennis when the Lakers and Raptors both tattled on him UNLESS…

… other owners had been getting away with it.

the_jac

2 | 7 hours ago

All teams launder money already.

Andre0Stacks

1 | a day ago

The reason this “investigation” is taking so long is because they’re trying to find the best way to spin this so little to no blame is assigned to Balmer and the Clippers. Balmer and the Clippers should get hit the hardest here for purposefully undermining the salary cap, but the Silver and the NBA don’t want to upset the wealthiest owner in the league. I seriously hope I’m just being overly cynical, but the entire season came and went with no action by the league when there was an abundance of evidence.

LimousineAndAPeetzah | 76ers

1 | 21 hours ago

Plenty of owners did this already, but were smart enough to never leave to leave a goddam paper trail, and never to the tune of $50 million. Michael Rubin admitted as much.

metros96

1 | 15 hours ago

Buddy,, that’s what all professional sports are for

Amin Elhassan: “I talked to a team exec a few months ago. I asked him ‘what do you think the other teams are rooting for as an outcome [for the Clippers investigation]?’ and he says to me ‘I hope they get dinged because if not my job becomes money launderer.’”