https://www.theringer.com/2025/09/09/nba/kawhi-leonard-los-angeles-clippers-steve-ballmer-aspiration-salary-cap-circumvention

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https://www.twitter.com/TheDunkCentral/status/1965442675747811807

Nalod wrote:
I'd like to see Balmer nailed for it and perhaps lose two first round picks, pay the fine, but also put that compensation back in the mix and see the tax looks like and any overages as if they went over, including apron things.
If guilty, has to send a big message to not mess with the league.

What I don't want is the fan to get hurt or the team screwed as them ground into purgetory also hurts other teams gate when on the road and the fans who bought seasons tickets. Also sponsors who paid for the exposure.

Nail Balmer where it hurts and thats in the wallet. He'll be fine either way.

There were a couple key points from Adam Silver's press conference today:

1. He starts by saying he had never heard of Aspiration before. Aspiration had a 300 million sponsorship deal, were the patch sponsors for the Clippers, and were present at the groundbreaking for the Intuit Dome. Silver has a lot on his plate, but this seems a little difficult to believe.

2. Silver made a point about the presumption of innocence. The CBA isn't the law. They are rules that specufically state that punitive action is allowed based on circumstantial evidence.

3. Silver said this will be a long investigation.

Based on Kawhi's already public contract with Aspiration alone, there's already enough evidence for salary cap circumvention.

I think for league balance its essential that Kawhi himself gets a ban. No way can small market teams compete if the wealthiest teams are allowed to circumvent the cap.

LivingLegend wrote:

Nalod wrote:
I'd like to see Balmer nailed for it and perhaps lose two first round picks, pay the fine, but also put that compensation back in the mix and see the tax looks like and any overages as if they went over, including apron things.
If guilty, has to send a big message to not mess with the league.

What I don't want is the fan to get hurt or the team screwed as them ground into purgetory also hurts other teams gate when on the road and the fans who bought seasons tickets. Also sponsors who paid for the exposure.

Nail Balmer where it hurts and thats in the wallet. He'll be fine either way.

This seems far worse vs old Joe Smith case where T-Wolves basically found a way to get their own player a big deal after 3 small 1 year deals.

I mention the Smith case because NBA docked T-Wolves 5 first round picks - along with lengthy full year suspensions for guys like K McHale.

Wonder how huge the penalty would be if they actually determined Clips rigged a $28M sponsorship deal for a free agent?

I agree that this is a much bigger violation than Smith because of thr caliber of player involved. This is exactly the rationale behind max contracts and the cap. For any kind of competitive balance, their needs to be a cap. For any restriction on player salaries, there needs to be a max player salary. The only mitigating factor here is that Balmer has already given the non-tax teams tons of money through the luxury tax so maybe they dont want to bite the hand that feeds them.

I have seen a notable change in some of the NBA inteligista over the past few days where they seem to be moving towards nothing happened or it will never be proven. This is despite even more explanatory evidence coming out; there was an additional 20 million in stock options and Kawhi's representatives asked for this exact deal with Toronto (additional sponsorship money with no requirement for work.)

Frankly, anyone arguing that either this happens all the time or there's nothing to prove is pushing an agenda or ignorant of the facts.

Re: the lack of a 'smoking gun' during the previous investigation:

A lot had to go wrong for this deal to be exposed and right on Pablo's reporting to be found out. If a similar deal existed with another 3rd party in 2019, how would it be possible for the NBA to find it out? If Kawhi had a deal with a private company owned by Balmer, would there be anyway for it to be found out? I'd be surprised if the NBA has authority to summon tax records. It could also be done easily enough through shell companies and family members.

I agree that the fine should be based on calculations of how much luxury taxes were misses. This at least seems like a pretty straightforward number to calculate.

I think a ban on Kawhi could be based on conduct detrimental to the league. Contracts, trades, and free agency draw huge amounts of attention in the NBA. Also the salary cap is a major factor in calculating the value of future draft picks and thus team value. If the system can be so easily gamed without punishment, why wouldnt the Spurs expect some schenanigans in a few years time when Wemby is up for his second contract?

I thought Pablo missed a few of his own points in the debate with Cuban. Cuban argued that Kawhi on the Clippers provided additional exposure for Aspiration. Pablo could easily have hammered home that while this is true, the value of that exposure pales in comparison to the money in the deal and even if true, why not have Kawhi at least be identified as a spokesman for the team? This is some Chewbacca reasoning- it does not make sense.

gradyandrew wrote:@Nalod, I appreciate the length and depth of your responses, not just on this topic but throughout our forum.

Re: the lack of a 'smoking gun' during the previous investigation:

A lot had to go wrong for this deal to be exposed and right on Pablo's reporting to be found out. If a similar deal existed with another 3rd party in 2019, how would it be possible for the NBA to find it out? If Kawhi had a deal with a private company owned by Balmer, would there be anyway for it to be found out? I'd be surprised if the NBA has authority to summon tax records. It could also be done easily enough through shell companies and family members.

I agree that the fine should be based on calculations of how much luxury taxes were misses. This at least seems like a pretty straightforward number to calculate.

I think a ban on Kawhi could be based on conduct detrimental to the league. Contracts, trades, and free agency draw huge amounts of attention in the NBA. Also the salary cap is a major factor in calculating the value of future draft picks and thus team value. If the system can be so easily gamed without punishment, why wouldnt the Spurs expect some schenanigans in a few years time when Wemby is up for his second contract?

I thought Pablo missed a few of his own points in the debate with Cuban. Cuban argued that Kawhi on the Clippers provided additional exposure for Aspiration. Pablo could easily have hammered home that while this is true, the value of that exposure pales in comparison to the money in the deal and even if true, why not have Kawhi at least be identified as a spokesman for the team? This is some Chewbacca reasoning- it does not make sense.

No quams with any of your points. I have not read a standard contract nor memorized the CBA when I glanced over it a few years ago. While the NBA has no legal rights to supena (authority) they do act outside common labor practices. For the most part terms of employment might include levels of finanical disclosure if a bonafide conflict presents itself? Granted, the NBA Union represents the players and maintains fair balance but its all spelled out and players enter employment voluntarily agreeing when they sign contracts. We have seen drug use, criminal violations, and gambling all issues bur not much on financial matters like this.
At the same time Isn't an owner required to also demonstrate good faith and also disclose conficts of interest?
Balmer will likely play dumb and say it was an oversight saying it was innocent but if the disclosures are true he clearly was in violation if such a rule exists? Whose to say Dolan over the years could not pay players via the many companies he owns? Over pay a player for producing content shown on MSG or HBO when they owned it? If Rocket Mortgage is paying Donovan MItchell is that ok by league standards given Dan Gilbert owns Cavs and the company? If so, is it market rate for the players level of popularity? Is he actually doing what the contract says? Etc, etc........I'd think so.

Bottom line in my opionion the investigation need produce smoking guns and then its up to the NBA/owners who construct the discipline commitee to levy its judgement and penalties. If there is not tax fraud the gov't will stay out of it. The best interests of the NBA will likley guide things and take into consideration the public view. NBA is an entertainment company with franchise owners who run the league paying the league office and its officers to run it for them. Owners mostly settle things on their own. Events that tarnish the image matters when revenue could be affected. Otherwise they play by their own rules.

Salary cap circumvention will be assumed to have taken place when payment by a team affiliated sponsor is in excess of a reasonable amount for services rendered.

I agree completely with what you say about the structure of the league and how internal politics will ultimately determine what and if a penalty is imposed.

But for context, the new 11 year broadcast deal is valued at 76 billion and the two marquee franchises have both just sold for 8 and 10 billion respectively. There's a huge amount of money being invested into the league and I think its big enough that the league needs to convince its partners and fans (customers) that everything is on the up and up.

gradyandrew wrote:

martin wrote:

gradyandrew wrote:

Nalod wrote:
I'd like to see Balmer nailed for it and perhaps lose two first round picks, pay the fine, but also put that compensation back in the mix and see the tax looks like and any overages as if they went over, including apron things.
If guilty, has to send a big message to not mess with the league.

What I don't want is the fan to get hurt or the team screwed as them ground into purgetory also hurts other teams gate when on the road and the fans who bought seasons tickets. Also sponsors who paid for the exposure.

Nail Balmer where it hurts and thats in the wallet. He'll be fine either way.

There were a couple key points from Adam Silver's press conference today:

1. He starts by saying he had never heard of Aspiration before. Aspiration had a 300 million sponsorship deal, were the patch sponsors for the Clippers, and were present at the groundbreaking for the Intuit Dome. Silver has a lot on his plate, but this seems a little difficult to believe.

2. Silver made a point about the presumption of innocence. The CBA isn't the law. They are rules that specufically state that punitive action is allowed based on circumstantial evidence.

3. Silver said this will be a long investigation.

Based on Kawhi's already public contract with Aspiration alone, there's already enough evidence for salary cap circumvention.

I think for league balance its essential that Kawhi himself gets a ban. No way can small market teams compete if the wealthiest teams are allowed to circumvent the cap.

Your assumptions are very strange to me and don't make sense.

Like, why do you think Silver should be involved and know enough about details of Clippers private sponsor details. I think that assumption is not correct.

The 300 million jersey patch sponsorship deal was the largest such deal of its kind at the time. The league office has to approve all patch sponsorship deals. Aspirations legal woes predate this reporting. Sponsorship deals are also part of BRI.

Like I said, Silver has a lot on his plate. Probably the approval process is handled by his subordinates. However, last year, it seems unlikely that whoever was in charge didn't say something along the lines of, "Hey boss, just so you know the reason the Clippers don't have a jersey sponsorship this season is because the the sponsor is now under investigation for fraud."

Possible, but unlikely.

Interesting dialogue. I think the work Grady is doing here is helpful for me. That said, with 10.23BB in revenue, I can understand the Commissioner not knowing where every $20mm to $30mm came from. Its actually 10.25BB and none of us would have noticed either.

But I think Grady is spot on here. Its pretty damning evidence.

EwingsGlass wrote:But I think Grady is spot on here. Its pretty damning evidence.

After sleeping on it for a night though Im now thinking that in this age of internet sleuths, why lie about something that coyld easily be proven wrong?

gradyandrew wrote:Holy ****! In the latest Pablo Torres he found out Balmer's college roommate/ 1% co owner of Clippers/ builder ofvthe Intuit Dome pumped 2 million into the broke Aspiration group enough to make a 1.75 million payment to Kawhi 9 days later and the same day they laid off 20% of staff. Oh, this guy Dennis Wong's daughter also worked at Aspiration. Smoking ****ing gun.

Meanwhile the league was complaining we gave Jalen’s dad an assistant job