If you had to guess what type of character might come out to oppose the latest bombshell from Meadowlark Media\u2019s Pablo Torre alleging that the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard broke NBA salary cap rules, it might be someone like Mark Cuban.<\/p>\n
The erstwhile Dallas Mavericks team governor and NBA loudmouth is undoubtedly a successful business man, and someone who fancies himself such an effective arbiter of right and wrong that he might someday want to run for president. There is no platform Cuban won\u2019t join to share his thoughts on, well, anything.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, that platform was X<\/a>, and the topic was Torre\u2019s assertion in his latest podcast episode that a Clippers sponsor paid Leonard tens of millions of dollars for a \u201cno-work\u201d job<\/a> that effectively served as a mechanism to circumvent the salary cap. Cuban posted a lengthy retort to the reporting, calling himself \u201cTeam Ballmer\u201d and accusing Torre of bias.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sad that @PabloTorre didn\u2019t take the time to find out how these scammers pulled off their scam,\u201d Cuban wrote. \u201cThe idea that the default is Ballmer is the bad guy is going to back fire on him.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m on Team Ballmer.<\/p>\n As much as I wish they circumvented the salary cap, First Steve isn\u2019t that dumb. If he did try to feed KL money, knowing what was at stake for him personally, and his team, do you think he would let the company go bankrupt ? Knowing all creditors would\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/AxvMoLmPv7<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Meanwhile, the episode of\u00a0Pablo Torre Finds Out<\/a> was seemingly enough for the NBA to start sniffing around the Clippers. The league confirmed to multiple reporters that it had launched an investigation in the wake of Torre\u2019s report.<\/p>\n As usual, Torre\u2019s reporting isn\u2019t solely based on anonymous sources and hearsay. Torre first found indications of Leonard\u2019s connection to Aspiration, the team\u2019s jersey patch and arena sponsor, in a bankruptcy filing. In the episode, Torre cites emails he has reviewed among stakeholders across the situation. And a former Aspiration employee can be heard on the episode, using a voice alteration to hide his identity.<\/p>\n Torre quickly responded to Cuban\u2019s post, inviting him onto\u00a0PTFO for a follow-up conversation.<\/p>\n Dear @mcuban<\/a>:<\/p>\n Care to come on @pablofindsout<\/a> to discuss my reporting? I have some questions I\u2019d love to ask you!<\/p>\n Thanks, \u2014 Pablo Torre \ud83d\udd73\ufe0f (@PabloTorre) September 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n It is hard to look at Cuban\u2019s exhaustive attack on Torre and not think that it is purely a defense of the NBA brotherhood. A similar example can be seen in the resistance in NFL circles to the lawsuit filed by Jon Gruden over his termination from the Las Vegas Raiders (or Torre\u2019s previous coverage of potential collusion by NFL owners, which was hidden by union execs). Big institutions like the NBA and NFL do not want lawyers or reporters digging around.<\/p>\n The record of those who have challenged Torre isn\u2019t too pretty, either. Just ask Bill Simmons<\/a>.<\/p>\n Perhaps Cuban will ultimately prove to be correct that Ballmer is innocent, that Aspiration orchestrated the entire scheme to pay Leonard eight-figures on the side without the team\u2019s knowledge. But by taking the tact of ripping Torre\u2019s journalistic ethics and accusing Torre of not being thorough enough, Cuban is going out on a limb that might well snap under the weight of future reporting about the incident.<\/p>\n \t
Pablo https:\/\/t.co\/0CgHgjPncM<\/a><\/p>\n