The Los Angeles Clippers held media day on Monday and one of the most anticipated speakers was president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank.
Frank was worked for the Clippers since 2014 and won NBA Executive of the Year in 2020. While his name has not come up much in reporting by Pablo Torre, anything related to basketball operations for the Clippers is technically under his purview.
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If there was indeed salary cap circumvention involving Steve Ballmer and Kawhi Leonard, there are massive implications surrounding Frank’s knowledge of the situation as well. Ballmer has maintained that he and the Clippers were conned, though fans had not heard from Frank until Monday.
Frank began his press conference stating that he cannot speak much about the investigation.
He reiterated that the Clippers welcome the investigation and that the team is eager for the truth to come out. Frank emphasized that Ballmer encourages the organization to stay on the “right side” of the rules.
According to the executive, these allegations do not line up with his experience and his reality.
However, when asked by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne if Leonard’s uncle Dennis Robertson asked for “extra benefits” outside of what’s allowed in the NBA’s salary cap, many of which were reported by The Athletic earlier this month, Frank was more sheepish.
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He simply said that Robertson knows the rules, Leonard knows the rules, Leonard’s agent Mitch Frankel knows the rules, and that the team knows the rules.
Shelburne asked for a “yes or no” answer about whether or not Robertson asked for extra benefits, Frank simply said that the Clippers know the rules.
That answer, of course, does not shut down any suspicions that the Clippers violated the rules — it just made it clear the everyone knows them.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Clippers president had suspicious non-answer on Kawhi Leonard scandal