Winners and Losers of NBA’s Stiff Clippers Ruling

The NBA’s severe punishment of the Clippers on Wednesday produced some instant sports media winners and losers. Let’s dive into who’s smiling—and who has egg all over their face.

Winners

• Pablo Torre: There are no asterisks around that Pulitzer Prize for the award-winning investigative journalist. The yearlong investigation by Pablo Torre Finds Out into the Clippers’ byzantine attempts to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap was vindicated by the findings of the law firm Wachtell, Lipton Rosen & Katz. By Wednesday morning, appreciation for the former ESPNer’s investigative prowess was overflowing.
  
  I thought Ben Collins put it well when he wrote on Bluesky: “What Pablo Torre did was ridiculously impressive. Uncovered a conspiracy between rich guys, withstood a propaganda campaign by one of the richest guys in the world with a pretty good reputation, didn’t buckle or panic, and just kept reporting. That’s some Pulitzerin’ right there.”
  
  Independent sports journalist Joon Lee added on X/Twitter it was “just another piece of evidence from @PabloTorre: real sports journalism is still alive!”

• Adam Silver: He may look like Clark Kent. But behind the mild-mannered affect, Silver may have reclaimed his mantle as the toughest commissioner in sports. For the second time in 15 years, Silver stared one of his billionaire owners in the eye and threw a haymaker. Except this time it wasn’t racist Clips owner Donald Sterling but his successor, Steve Ballmer—The Association’s richest owner, by far, with a net worth of roughly $145 billion.
  
  Even ESPN’s Michael Wilbon was shocked the punishments include a yearlong suspension of Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO. “Steve Ballmer is so essential to the league’s big business initiatives, and by big, I mean domestic and international expansion,” said Wilbon on Pardon the Interruption. “That is why largely I didn’t see the richest owner in the NBA, as you know, getting any big hit. It’s not what I thought they would find, it’s that I thought they could find anything and they wouldn’t do anything about it. So it’s a surprise to me, and it’s a big hit.”

• Kawhi Leonard: The two-time MVP is at the center of the entire sordid story. But he got off relatively easy. Leonard was fined $700,000 by the NBA, little more than a paycheck. The oft-injured Leonard will still collect his $50 million salary this year. And his trade to Toronto, where he led the Raptors to the NBA title in 2019, is still expected to go through. Ditto for a lucrative new contract. 

Losers

• Clippers: This is almost a death-penalty-like punishment for a team that perennially lags behind the Lakers in Southern California. The NBA’s punishment includes losing five first-round draft picks in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033, a fine of $30 million; suspension of team executives Gillian Zucker and Lawrence Frank; and the yearlong suspension of Ballmer.
  
  With so many pro sports franchises being bought and sold in recent months, the big question now is whether Ballmer will put the Clippers on the selling block. Did we mention the Clippers’ ill-fated trades for Leonard and Paul George have now cost them 10 first-round picks, plus a boatload of players including Shai-Gilgeous Alexander?

• ESPN: The investigative team at the four letters typically does great work. But reporters Ramona Shelburne, Don Van Natta Jr., and Baxter Holmes are catching flak for their story last month. The trio wrote that the NBA “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.” NBA spokesperson Mike Bass disputed ESPN’s story at the time, stating it “contains numerous and significant inaccuracies.” ESPN declined further comment Wednesday. 

• Pablo skeptics: By Thursday morning, the line formed to my right of former Pablo Torre skeptics who quibbled with his findings for the past year. Start with Ballmer and the Clippers, who bellowed about their innocence, with Ballmer claiming to ESPN’s Shelburne that he didn’t know how much Aspiration paid Leonard—and that he was “conned.” Throw in Mavs minority owner Mark Cuban, who’s been one of Torre’s loudest skeptics over the past year. But Cuban graciously offered a mea culpa Thursday, simply tweeting: “Congrats Pablo.”

Torre put a bow on his investigation by tweeting Thursday: “Accountability for the wealthiest people on Earth is hard to come by. Thank you for believing in the power of independent journalism to accomplish it. (And, yes, more to come.)”

That is backed up by the Wachtell report, which said that investigators have received “relevant” information in recent days and “will supplement their findings as appropriate.” The NBA, for its part, said it could take further action if new information comes to light.