[Pablo Torre] Steve Balmer paid Kawhi Leonard under the table to avoid salary cap

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...comes-nbas-clippers-kawhi-leonard-cap-scandal

Good article on what the NBA could do. (1)Nothing, (2) the book, but (3) likely a small fine and a draft pick. Granted, this assumes one can see how a $28M deal for no work is different from minimum contracts for 10th- to 15th-man work.

On the Astros, the punishment was fine. I'm more upset with the media and the portrayal by fans of other teams, suggesting that the sticky stuff cheating was okay.

 

Are you really upset that Haslem gave up 2M to help the team with a little more flexibility for that year? Lots of players give the team a little discount, or take a little low amount per year for a longer guaranteed term to help them field a better roster. This is especially common for older declining players. It's not the same as someone signing a contract at 28M below market value and getting compensated from some bogus promotional job.

Your obsession against the Heat is weird.

 

Kawhi never signed a below market contract though, he always got the max. I do hate the heat though not arguing that. I’m never a fan of selective punishing as a concept though in any situation, sports or otherwise. If 10 of my students cheat I’m punishing all 10, not just 1.

 

Looks like it will be buried.

 

this isn’t even a big deal…every team is doing or has done something underhanded

Jalen Brunson signed for significantly below market value out the goodness of his heart?

 

But those other teams weren’t stupid and got caught like the Clippers. Just like Epstein had lots of wealthy clients but most of them weren’t dumb enough to write him a Christmas card thanking him for the young girls like Trump.

Now the question is will the NBA sweep this under the rug or give Ballmer a tiny slap on the wrist. I doubt there will be any serious punishment.

 

https://www.theringer.com/2025/09/0...e-ballmer-aspiration-salary-cap-circumvention



[Elhassan] Mark Cuban’s defense of Steve Ballmer was: ‘Hey, rich people don’t know how much money they have or how much money they’re investing,’ infantilizing him like he was a victim. All the texts I got from people around the league were along the lines of, ‘I think the Clippers are screwed.’

 

Not surprising Cuban comes to Balmer’s defense as they are the exact same type of owner: passionate, loud mouths, will do anything for an advantage and therefore seen by fans and people around the league as a great guy.

 

{The Hoop Collective] The NBA’s Board of Governors, including Steve Ballmer, will meet today (Tuesday) in New York. Tim MacMahon: “It’s one thing for other governors to say something on background. Is there going to be real pressure put on when they all get in the same room?”

 

Isnt it weird how more people are concerned over a player being paid his worth than the mavs miraculously getting the number 1 pick

 

“Oh no kawhi got an extra years worth of salary!”

Dallas gets a superstar replacement after one of the stupidest most bizarre and lopsided trades in history… crickets

 

It's not about a player getting paid his worth...it's about the player being paid underhanded to gain an advantage over other teams. That's the concern for this situation. The mavs thing pisses me off too.

 

They are both as blatant if we are being honest

The 50 million is just the difference in max contracts between resigning with his original team toronto and signing as a free agent

 

His not so Secret Demand 'Make me a Billionaire!'

 

Mark Cuban is also especially bright while being able to effectively communicate and navigate new information quickly.

 

LOL

 

Yeah Kawhi is done, have no interest to even pretend to care about his basketball skills.

 

[Pablo Torre] “Steve Ballmer flying to Bristol to do the ESPN interview reflects a desire to be in a setting in which there would be maximum persuasion. I have more reporting to do on it. There's never been a deal like this one. No. Never. This is bigger than Kawhi’s New Balance contract, I am told”