Source: https://imgur.com/a/2bO7guQ

More from Pablo:

I’m only releasing what would satisfy the highest standards of fact-checking. It took seven months to report the first one. It’s why I waited for a second person who cooperated with federal agencies to go on tape for this one. And it’s why I feel like I’m now going insane

45 comments

  3. It’s worth remembering all those arguing for the “beyond a shred of doubt” standard.

    (This is different from “I don’t think Silver will go for a harsh punishment for owner-politics reasons”.)

  4. Cap circumvention scandal aside, this whole ordeal has also been exposing a ton about the media. The coverage for the Clippers has been ridiculously generous compared to any other team in the league. It almost feels like most NBA “reporters” these days are just auditioning for a position in the Clippers front office to be the next Lee Jenkins.

  6. Sports reporters outside of pablo are just an extension of leagues’ PR departments. This problem goes way beyond kawhi and the clippers, and all the teams who have done it are scrambling

  10. If NBA “Reporters” don’t carry water for the FOs, owners, agents and players nobody would hand them scoops to report on, and they’d unfortunately have to do the job of an actual reporter.

  12. I love that he let everyone reply before dropping today’s bombshell. Can’t wait to see there responses now. Hopefully there is more to come

  13. Hypothetically could Pablo have gone to Ballmer and asked for a few million to not release this?

    If thats the case, he’s a better man than me.

  16. They’re just gossip columnists and opinion-spouters who never had more than the slightest pretense of being actual journalists.

  19. They’re all mouthpieces for the wealthy

    Except it’s especially egregious cuz this involves a hecto-billionaire

  21. God damn go off son. Keep the motherfucking fire on and don’t let these other NBA “reporters” get away with their sheepish mouthpiece bullshit

  22. I get what he’s saying. But transactions will eventually be confirmed by the parties involved.

    Something like this won’t. And is more important/impactful to the league. So it should have a higher standard for evidence.

  23. To be fair, these allegations are way more serious than like a draft-day trade, and definitely warrant a higher standard of proof. That being said, I feel like Torre has gone above and beyond that here. The NBA is allowed to take action based on circumstantial evidence and these circumstances are cartoonishly incriminating for the Clippers and for Kawhi.

    I don’t understand how they can expect fans to have any trust in the league whatsoever if Ballmer can circumvent the cap to the tune of $50M and go on being an owner; if Donald Sterling and Robert Sarver lose their teams for being racists and creeps (which I agree with), what sort of message is the league sending us if deliberate and flagrant cap circumvention isn’t regarded as remotely in that ballpark for some reason? Again, Sterling and Sarver deserved to lose their teams, but their misdeeds weren’t having any impact on what happens after the ball goes up; Ballmer seems to have very intentionally broken the NBA’s rules and used his immense wealth to give his team an incredibly unfair advantage. That *has* to be punished severely, or the league’s credibility hits absolute zero. If you’re not gonna force him out, you’ve gotta install like an independent inspector general for the Clippers lmao, the man clearly cannot be trusted to operate with integrity on his own.

    I’ve seen a lot of talk about suspending / banning Kawhi, and his punishment should probably be somewhere in that ballpark for sure, but they can’t just punish him and let Ballmer go on owning the Clippers independently, that sends a crazy message and does not address the problem; unfortunately I have a bad feeling that’s probably what’s going to happen.

  24. Beyond a court of law is insane lmao. Isn’t it all circumstantial evidence right now? It looks and most likely is the case that shit is fucked but it’s all just circumstantial evidence.

    Just so we are clear, Casey Anthony got off even though she we literally googling how to suffocate someone. Court standards are insanely high to clear.

  25. pablo – we feel the same way; the jumping through hoops from the 4-letter network (and by extension, the nba) IS insane.

    there isn’t a soul who’s read/heard any of this, and doesn’t understand what happened.

    the clippers and balmer cheated. pablo knows it. we know it. reporters know it. the nba knows it.

    everything from here is just bullshit to mitigate damage to the specific people or businesses.

    adam silver – we know they cheated. we aren’t stupid.

  26. The quiet part was said out loud a few days ago. I forgot who it was because it was not a person worth remembering, but they basically said they wouldn’t break a story like this because it would cost them access to the owners. To Ballmer, perhaps, more specifically.

    Because these sports reporters aren’t journalists at heart, only by mouth. They break news not to inform or reveal the truth; but to uplift themselves, their reputation, and their connections to powerful entities. Or maybe they still do the former, but as a means, not the end goal.

    When Ramona held that interview with Ballmer, she wasn’t looking to extract information. She was looking to manipulate and influence the information that was already broadcast by Pablo. If she were truly seeking the truth, she would have dissected Ballmer’s answers; find the holes, and see if Ballmer could plug them up. Test how robust his argument was.

  27. NBA reporters aren’t here to report. They’re stenographers for agents, execs, owners, and players.

  28. This scandal is a microcosm of investigative journalism getting heavily sidelined in favor of access/quid pro quo journalism, where access to the news-makers is seen as more important than delivering hard facts. And since access is often achieved by the media agreeing to terms favoring the other side, it’s not surprised that we’re seeing them throw softballs at Ballmer/the Clippers.

    It’s not unlike what’s happening with the US government and several news outlets which previously were respectful institutions.

  29. Woj got out at the right time, respect to Pablo tho he’s dug deep into this and has been clear and precise in his findings without leaning too hard into his bias

  31. There aren’t many journalists left.

    Pablo is a breath of fresh air.

    Shams is just a guy who breaks the news from agents, and he probably has a guy in every front office, too. Him and Woj are important, but it’s something different.

    It’s pure punditry at this point. Analogous to political coverage. ‘Journalism’ in that realm is somebody reading someone else’s story and opining. Sports is no different.

    That’s why Vice was so popular in the 2010s. They were just doing basic journalism. Nothing special, but that had become rare after financial cutbacks to newsrooms.

    It’s much easier to just state an opinion.

  32. “it’s difficult to get someone to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it”

    Upton Sinclair

  33. There is a LOT of money being invested to squash this story. Another billionaire owner needs to fight back and expose ballmer.

  34. Go ahead, cross the grim reaper of sports journalism.

    You’ll probably be fine, but he may come snatch the life right out of your career.

  37. Quite honestly it’s because the world is set up to make you dependent on the rich.

    You need a local Lord or Liege to be into what you are into if you wanna work on something you’re passionate about. As a social worker from a working class background I’ll never run my own homeless services org, or run my own syringe exchange.

    The rich have made the cost of living/cost of comfort to tied to their own benefit to allow us individuality or freedom.

    These NBA reporters are no different than any HR person who ever sold someone out to Amazon, no different than someone who sells a used car to someone who they are trying to entrap within a predatory loan.

    Petite Bourgeoisie, it’s a term more Americans need to learn. It’s the people who will never OWN the means of production but are happy to participate in the enshitification of society as long as they can have a bigger cut tommorow.

  38. “Daddy Ballmer, I said the mean thing to Pablo. I was loyal, daddy Ballmer. Please give me more access. Can I have a crumb off your table? Thank you, daddy Ballmer.”

    -NBA “reporters” probably.

  39. Zach Lowe kind of stands out in that sense. On random podcasts he would go adamant about random stuff citing “I hear rumors in the league” yet here for some reason he decided to be so extra cautious to the extent I felt second hand embarrassment. Somehow even bill simmons sounded more reasonable.

  40. Because people with no integrity always have their own agenda and they will undermine you any way they can

  42. Anyone with the name “Insider” on their title are league contractors, plain and simple. NFL,NBA,MLB. They’re pushing the league narrative most of the time, and every now and then if the player/agent are big enough like Mulugheta or Boras they’ll push their narrative.

  44. This is all sports journalism in a nutshell. You rarely get real deep dives. Mr Torres has always been about getting to the bottom of things though. Came out the gate discussing why athletes go broke and things these leagues could do. Give that man his pultizer!!

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