Stephen A. and Pablo Torre Unpack the Kawhi Leonard NBA Scandal

Stephen A. and Pablo Torre Unpack the Kawhi Leonard NBA Scandal



Stephen A. and Pablo Torre Unpack the Kawhi Leonard NBA Scandal

Stephen A. Smith sits down with investigative journalist Pablo Torre to unpack the Kawhi Leonard scandal and the historic punishment handed down to Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Pablo explains how his investigation began with a bankruptcy filing, the alleged $66 million in off-the-books payments connected to Kawhi, and the paper trail that exposed the operation. They also discuss Lawrence Frank’s cooperation with the NBA, Dennis Robertson’s ban, Kawhi’s surprisingly light punishment and why Ballmer’s obsession with winning ultimately became his undoing.

Chapters:

00:00 Clippers hit with historic punishment
01:19 Stephen A. welcomes Pablo Torre
02:31 What the penalties mean for Steve Ballmer
03:48 How Pablo’s investigation began
05:07 The bankruptcy filing that opened the case
06:26 The alleged Clippers-Aspiration arrangement
08:19 Why Ballmer was desperate to keep Kawhi
09:31 The alleged $66 million money trail
11:38 The paper trail behind the scandal
13:12 Ballmer’s public denial
14:12 Kawhi’s alleged “no-show” endorsements
15:35 The smoking gun the NBA didn’t address
16:38 Were there additional undisclosed payments?
17:32 Lawrence Frank’s cooperation with the NBA
19:58 Dennis Robertson’s punishment
21:19 Why Kawhi received a light penalty
23:41 Ballmer’s legal team fires back
24:49 Did Kawhi and Lawrence Frank abandon Ballmer?
26:18 How Ballmer trusted the wrong people
27:08 Could Kawhi have been an innocent bystander?
29:33 Stephen A. praises Pablo’s reporting
30:59 Why investigative journalism still matters

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View Comments (48)
  1. What teams did the clipper knock out of the playoffs the years they cheated? Do the clippers have to pay them anything? I know there are at least a few teams that were beaten out by the clippers and forced into play in losses and out of the playoffs early. Does Kawai or the clippers pay them too? Do they get the picks from the clippers?

  2. Never expected or saw this in Pablo’s future when I watched him on PTI around the horn and all those other gimmicky espn shows. Super proud of his career progression. He got a billionaire sports owner banned from his own building. 😂😂😂😂 that’s fucking wild!

  3. Say what you want about SAS but true journalism is in his blood from back in the day. Great job to let Pablo have a 30 min segment to put this huge accomplishment in the spotlight. Pablo’s generational run continues

  4. Isn’t Stephen A paid for and bought by Ballmer? You have been defending Steve Ballmer from the get go. ESPN has completely destroyed its credibility by parting ways with Pablo and doubling down with shrills like you. So, sad! I expected courage from you, but I guess the paycheck is too big.
    Entertainment over journalism, that’s the ESPN way. That I expect, but show some ,,,,,Stephen A, call out your network for reporting on this without mentioning Pablo.

  5. Shamrock was taking notes during a co-op meeting and Stringer couldn’t believe it. Your taking notes on a criminal conspiracy. Stephen A didn't understand that reference. There were many Shamrock's in this story.

  6. So say a company is willing to pay someone 50 million obviously they think the person is worth it for whatever reason. I thought in America the market sets the value. I thought we wanted the government to stay out of business and leave the free market alone. Or is it they are picking and choosing. Someone wants to pay that man a billion dollars he should be able to take it.

  7. It’s good that Leonard was not suspended. The Clippers ownership and management wilfully tried to cheat the other owners in the NBA by doing illegal business and circumvent the salary cap

Comments are closed.