Major
Footballguy
Amen Thompson. His midrange is going to be much improved. I really think that's all he's been working on this off season.
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2025-26 NBA Thread: manager at job site annoyed Kawhi hasn't shown up again (10 Viewers)
- Thread starter Capella
- Start date
Amen Thompson. His midrange is going to be much improved. I really think that's all he's been working on this off season.
the moops
Footballguy
Bam
Kev4029
Footballguy
He's a career 43% shooter from 10-16 and 35% from 16-3P. For comparison, noted mid-range maestro Anthony Davis is at 42% and 38%, respectively.
mr. furley
Footballguy
now the thread title makes sense
sports.yahoo.com
Kawhi Leonard reportedly paid $28 million for 'no-show job' with Clippers as way to get around NBA salary cap
Kawhi Leonard was reportedly paid $28 million to do nothing.
Softballguy
Footballguy
Interesting.now the thread title makes sense
Kawhi Leonard reportedly paid $28 million for 'no-show job' with Clippers as way to get around NBA salary cap
Kawhi Leonard was reportedly paid $28 million to do nothing.
I tried listening to Pablo Torre Finds Out after hearing Torre talk about the podcast on Simmons, but the two episodes I listened to weren't very good. Sounds like he may have a story here though... I may give it a listen.
Desert_Power
Footballguy
I've liked his deep dives on the NFLPA so will have to check it out.Interesting.now the thread title makes sense
Kawhi Leonard reportedly paid $28 million for 'no-show job' with Clippers as way to get around NBA salary cap
Kawhi Leonard was reportedly paid $28 million to do nothing.
I tried listening to Pablo Torre Finds Out after hearing Torre talk about the podcast on Simmons, but the two episodes I listened to weren't very good. Sounds like he may have a story here though... I may give it a listen.
Frostillicus
Footballguy
That seems illegal.now the thread title makes sense
Kawhi Leonard reportedly paid $28 million for 'no-show job' with Clippers as way to get around NBA salary cap
Kawhi Leonard was reportedly paid $28 million to do nothing.
Yo Mama
Footballguy
I’m sure the league wants this to go away as quick as possible. Imagine Balmer with his unlimited resources going to court to dispute a harsh penalty and asking for other teams’ endorsement deals with key players using official team sponsors. I doubt the Clippers get anywhere near the punishment the Wolves did in the Joe Smith deal.
Some damning stuff revealed here (like a clause in the contract that the company can drop Kawhi if he leaves the Clippers) is probably fairly common in endorsement deals with official team sponsors.
The league definitely needs to look into these endorsement deals (and also investment deals) across the league. Maybe they’ll try to make an example of the Clippers here, but I bet they’re afraid to open Pandora’s box here and go to far.
Some damning stuff revealed here (like a clause in the contract that the company can drop Kawhi if he leaves the Clippers) is probably fairly common in endorsement deals with official team sponsors.
The league definitely needs to look into these endorsement deals (and also investment deals) across the league. Maybe they’ll try to make an example of the Clippers here, but I bet they’re afraid to open Pandora’s box here and go to far.
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
I don’t know. Maybe some owners of small market teams will be rightfully pissed?
mr. furley
Footballguy
say hello to your Seattle Clippers
Yo Mama
Footballguy
There have been rumors since he came to the Clippers about the outside the cap benefits Kawhi got like a paid-for luxury apartment. I assume those rumors were mainly from lakers fans mad he didn’t choose them, but there’s been smoke about under the table stuff with him for years.
Desert_Power
Footballguy
I am missing this joke.I guess we know Luka didn't have an under the table deal with the Mavs
msudaisy26
Footballguy
This is the correct answer!
msudaisy26
Footballguy
I am missing this joke.I guess we know Luka didn't have an under the table deal with the Mavs
It has to be a drinking reference.
Sammy3469
Footballguy
The only way you deal a guy like Luka is if he isn't making $7 million under that table since he's more likely to spill the beans if he's pissed off.I am missing this joke.I guess we know Luka didn't have an under the table deal with the Mavs
Yo Mama
Footballguy
Being reminded of some of the stories from back when Kawhi signed with the Clippers. He and his uncle were demanding illegal sponsorship deals from teams during the free agency process. Jeanie Buss claimed she refused those requests and that was why he went elsewhere (her Dad would have named the Forum Club after him).
The Raptors owner complained to the league about this at the time but they never did anything. He says he met Kawhi’s demands for $15m in sponsorship deals (that the team had to facilitate), but he left for the Clippers anyway. Imagine an owner complaining to the league that he tried to cheat to keep a player but someone else cheated more. That’s why everyone was speculating at the time what he took to move to the Clippers.
ETA - here is a link to one of the reports from back then (well it’s a blog about the report, but the original Sam Amick report is paywalled so it has some of the relevant quotes):
Lakers Rumors: Jeanie Buss Refused Kawhi Leonard's Uncle's Illegal Requests During 2019 NBA Free Agency
Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss reportedly refused Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard's uncle's illegal requests during 2019 NBA free agency.
lakersnation.com
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Desert_Power
Footballguy
Listened through Pablo's show. Seems like this entire enterprise was somewhat fraudulent.
We're going to find out if Adam Silver has any stones. This is much more serious and impactful to the league than what the previous owner did.
I hope Pablo has some good security.
We're going to find out if Adam Silver has any stones. This is much more serious and impactful to the league than what the previous owner did.
I hope Pablo has some good security.
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Sammy3469
Footballguy
It's the stupidity of how this was structured more than anything.Being reminded of some of the stories from back when Kawhi signed with the Clippers. He and his uncle were demanding illegal sponsorship deals from teams during the free agency process. Jeanie Buss claimed she refused those requests and that was why he went elsewhere (her Dad would have named the Forum Club after him).
The Raptors owner complained to the league about this at the time but they never did anything. He says he met Kawhi’s demands for $15m in sponsorship deals (that the team had to facilitate), but he left for the Clippers anyway. Imagine an owner complaining to the league that he tried to cheat to keep a player but someone else cheated more. That’s why everyone was speculating at the time what he took to move to the Clippers.
ETA - here is a link to one of the reports from back then (well it’s a blog about the report, but the original Sam Amick report is paywalled so it has some of the relevant quotes):
Lakers Rumors: Jeanie Buss Refused Kawhi Leonard's Uncle's Illegal Requests During 2019 NBA Free Agency
Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss reportedly refused Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard's uncle's illegal requests during 2019 NBA free agency.
Desert_Power
Footballguy
I guess I'm left wondering if Aspiration was ever trying to be a real company, or if this was its entire point?It's the stupidity of how this was structured more than anything.Being reminded of some of the stories from back when Kawhi signed with the Clippers. He and his uncle were demanding illegal sponsorship deals from teams during the free agency process. Jeanie Buss claimed she refused those requests and that was why he went elsewhere (her Dad would have named the Forum Club after him).
The Raptors owner complained to the league about this at the time but they never did anything. He says he met Kawhi’s demands for $15m in sponsorship deals (that the team had to facilitate), but he left for the Clippers anyway. Imagine an owner complaining to the league that he tried to cheat to keep a player but someone else cheated more. That’s why everyone was speculating at the time what he took to move to the Clippers.
ETA - here is a link to one of the reports from back then (well it’s a blog about the report, but the original Sam Amick report is paywalled so it has some of the relevant quotes):
Lakers Rumors: Jeanie Buss Refused Kawhi Leonard's Uncle's Illegal Requests During 2019 NBA Free Agency
Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss reportedly refused Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard's uncle's illegal requests during 2019 NBA free agency.
Sammy3469
Footballguy
It's a real company in that they offer a real banking product (still do under the name GreenFi now) that real customers are using. The original CEO was cooking the books to get an IPO (he is convicted of fraud) and then enrich himself and got an investment from Ballmer in the process.I guess I'm left wondering if Aspiration was ever trying to be a real company, or if this was its entire point?It's the stupidity of how this was structured more than anything.Being reminded of some of the stories from back when Kawhi signed with the Clippers. He and his uncle were demanding illegal sponsorship deals from teams during the free agency process. Jeanie Buss claimed she refused those requests and that was why he went elsewhere (her Dad would have named the Forum Club after him).
The Raptors owner complained to the league about this at the time but they never did anything. He says he met Kawhi’s demands for $15m in sponsorship deals (that the team had to facilitate), but he left for the Clippers anyway. Imagine an owner complaining to the league that he tried to cheat to keep a player but someone else cheated more. That’s why everyone was speculating at the time what he took to move to the Clippers.
ETA - here is a link to one of the reports from back then (well it’s a blog about the report, but the original Sam Amick report is paywalled so it has some of the relevant quotes):
Lakers Rumors: Jeanie Buss Refused Kawhi Leonard's Uncle's Illegal Requests During 2019 NBA Free Agency
Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss reportedly refused Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard's uncle's illegal requests during 2019 NBA free agency.
What is unclear is how much of Ballmer's investment was real versus a front to pass through payments to others as I'm sure he's out the
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Desert_Power
Footballguy
Yeah, found that Matt Levine put out something on it too: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/newsletters/2025-09-03/sports-team-owners-like-to-winIt's a real company in that they offer a real banking product (still do under the name GreenFi now) that real customers are using. The original CEO was cooking the books to get an IPO (he is convicted of fraud) and then enrich himself and got an investment from Ballmer in the process.I guess I'm left wondering if Aspiration was ever trying to be a real company, or if this was its entire point?It's the stupidity of how this was structured more than anything.Being reminded of some of the stories from back when Kawhi signed with the Clippers. He and his uncle were demanding illegal sponsorship deals from teams during the free agency process. Jeanie Buss claimed she refused those requests and that was why he went elsewhere (her Dad would have named the Forum Club after him).
The Raptors owner complained to the league about this at the time but they never did anything. He says he met Kawhi’s demands for $15m in sponsorship deals (that the team had to facilitate), but he left for the Clippers anyway. Imagine an owner complaining to the league that he tried to cheat to keep a player but someone else cheated more. That’s why everyone was speculating at the time what he took to move to the Clippers.
ETA - here is a link to one of the reports from back then (well it’s a blog about the report, but the original Sam Amick report is paywalled so it has some of the relevant quotes):
Lakers Rumors: Jeanie Buss Refused Kawhi Leonard's Uncle's Illegal Requests During 2019 NBA Free Agency
Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss reportedly refused Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard's uncle's illegal requests during 2019 NBA free agency.
What is unclear is how much of Ballmer's investment was real versus a front to pass through payments to others as I'm sure he's out the$300million he reportedly put into Aspiration as an investment. It was really 250 million since $50 of the 300 was due at SPAC closing (which never happened).
mr. furley
Footballguy
listened to it, too
i found it funny that this Aspiration company wrote up a contract that explicitly allowed Kawhi to not do anything he didn't want to do that was written in the contract. show up at events? nah. commercials for the company? not if doesn't feel like it.
he had to send one photo a month to Aspiration, but didn't have to if he didn't want to.
he had to interact with their social media 5 time a month, whether it be a comment on their FB page, a like on a post, etc. but if he didn't want, he didn't have to
sign 15 autographs a month... if he felt like it, etc.
he was getting paid far and away more money than the rest of their celebrity endorsers, combined.... to do absolutely nothing.
that Ballmer funneled a huge amount of money (was it $50mm?) to them which became $28mm to Kawhi (so long as he was a Clipper) for existing seems more than a little fishy.
msudaisy26
Footballguy
That is fix for the cap. Just get rid of it like the MLB. All the best free agents go to a handful of teams anyways. Give them a chance to go crazy.
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Right, wasn’t there a story a few years ago about some guy who was supposedly brokering kawhi’s move to LA or something? Or at least he thought he was getting money as part of some kind of shady deal?
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Kind of like this…Being reminded of some of the stories from back when Kawhi signed with the Clippers. He and his uncle were demanding illegal sponsorship deals from teams during the free agency process. Jeanie Buss claimed she refused those requests and that was why he went elsewhere (her Dad would have named the Forum Club after him).
The Raptors owner complained to the league about this at the time but they never did anything. He says he met Kawhi’s demands for $15m in sponsorship deals (that the team had to facilitate), but he left for the Clippers anyway. Imagine an owner complaining to the league that he tried to cheat to keep a player but someone else cheated more. That’s why everyone was speculating at the time what he took to move to the Clippers.
ETA - here is a link to one of the reports from back then (well it’s a blog about the report, but the original Sam Amick report is paywalled so it has some of the relevant quotes):
Lakers Rumors: Jeanie Buss Refused Kawhi Leonard's Uncle's Illegal Requests During 2019 NBA Free Agency
Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss reportedly refused Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard's uncle's illegal requests during 2019 NBA free agency.
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Yeah the tannenbaum thing seems potentially ok afaik. I would assume it’s ok for teams to work with players to get legit sponsorships but maybe I’m wrong. Purposely hiding the owners own money to get it to the player is way differentIt's a real company in that they offer a real banking product (still do under the name GreenFi now) that real customers are using. The original CEO was cooking the books to get an IPO (he is convicted of fraud) and then enrich himself and got an investment from Ballmer in the process.I guess I'm left wondering if Aspiration was ever trying to be a real company, or if this was its entire point?It's the stupidity of how this was structured more than anything.Being reminded of some of the stories from back when Kawhi signed with the Clippers. He and his uncle were demanding illegal sponsorship deals from teams during the free agency process. Jeanie Buss claimed she refused those requests and that was why he went elsewhere (her Dad would have named the Forum Club after him).
The Raptors owner complained to the league about this at the time but they never did anything. He says he met Kawhi’s demands for $15m in sponsorship deals (that the team had to facilitate), but he left for the Clippers anyway. Imagine an owner complaining to the league that he tried to cheat to keep a player but someone else cheated more. That’s why everyone was speculating at the time what he took to move to the Clippers.
ETA - here is a link to one of the reports from back then (well it’s a blog about the report, but the original Sam Amick report is paywalled so it has some of the relevant quotes):
Lakers Rumors: Jeanie Buss Refused Kawhi Leonard's Uncle's Illegal Requests During 2019 NBA Free Agency
Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss reportedly refused Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard's uncle's illegal requests during 2019 NBA free agency.
What is unclear is how much of Ballmer's investment was real versus a front to pass through payments to others as I'm sure he's out the$300million he reportedly put into Aspiration as an investment. It was really 250 million since $50 of the 300 was due at SPAC closing (which never happened).
Kev4029
Footballguy
I, for one, would never suspect the former CEO of Microsoft worth $150b that was in charge (technically) during their relatively historic antitrust lawsuit in the early 00s to do anything untoward in his business dealings. Just doesn't seem like something a person like him would or could ever conceive of doing.
Sammy3469
Footballguy
I guess the other thing to point out is that Ballmer's investment was a de facto "loan" since Aspiration turned around and signed a 22 year/$300 million dollar jersey sponsorship with the Clippers. It sort of strains credulity to think Aspiration just decided to give Khawi this contract given how interwoven the Clippers and Aspiration were financially in late 2021/early 2022. You’d expect some sort of sponsorship deal with Khawi for Aspiration, but not at 7 million a year given Aspiration was paying 13-14 million a year to be jersey sponsor.
Yo Mama
Footballguy
Especially since it sounds like that $7m per year was much higher than they were paying stars like Robert Downey Jr and Leo DiCaprio who were actually doing promotions for them.
rockaction
Footballguy
Yeah, no kidding. I have tons of respect for this guy. He began to implicate politicians on Twitter (I think he did—I can't invest too much time into going down this rabbit hole) and I just hope he knows what he's doing or that he throws caution to the wind here. Regardless, I have a lot of respect for him. It's hard to break stories that make billionaires incredibly uncomfortable, but quite frankly, it's about time.
I never liked Leonard, but I don't care for the many of the guys in the NBA. Their sense of entitlement always struck me as staggering. But I do like the collegiate guys before they're corrupted by all the shenanigans and red carpets rolled out for them. I loved when UCONN stomped SDSU way back when on their march to the 2011 national championship. Kemba Walker had 36 and Kawhi had 12. How 'bout them apples!
Major
Footballguy
Came in here to post the same. Been following him most of the tourney and really, really impressed. Getting the best of Jokic was the cherry on top. I think last season he was more focused on improving his Defense to appease Udoka and now he's back to focusing on his shot. Liking the thought of Sengun being a 3 point threat.
In case you missed the Turkey v. Serbia match, it was a good one. Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZA3YtyEmwk
msudaisy26
Footballguy
I am not saying they did anything wrong, but this makes me wonder about Brunson signing cheaply with the Knicks, LeBron not wanting to ring chase and taking a small cut to stay with the Lakers.
The craziest thing about Kawhi's deal is that is only voided if he isn't on the Clippers.
Rightly or wrongly if a player ever takes a team friendly deal now it is going to raise suspicion.
The craziest thing about Kawhi's deal is that is only voided if he isn't on the Clippers.
Rightly or wrongly if a player ever takes a team friendly deal now it is going to raise suspicion.
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
Cam Thomas signs QO of just under $6 million. 3 RFAs to go.
Sammy3469
Footballguy
That part of it is the part that makes the most sense. I think it would be fairly common in legitimate deals for a team's biggest star to have deals with some of the team's sponsor and for those deals to void if they aren't on the team anymore. I also think these types of deals (jersey/arena/other team sponsor also signing a sponsorship with the star player) would be fairly common across the league at this point. What isn't common is the $7 million.
Sammy3469
Footballguy
Turns out there’s more:
www.bostonsportsjournal.com
Boston Sports Journal
Boston's fast-growing, fully-credentialed, flying-everywhere collection of professional journalists covering Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and more…
www.bostonsportsjournal.com
Yo Mama
Footballguy
Part of Kawhi’s deal with Aspiration was also $20m in company stock (which never conveyed), making the total comp for his deal $48m - pretty close to Balmer’s $50m investment in the company.
www.bostonsportsjournal.com
Boston Sports Journal
Boston's fast-growing, fully-credentialed, flying-everywhere collection of professional journalists covering Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and more…
www.bostonsportsjournal.com
Yo Mama
Footballguy
Haha - beat me to the punch.Turns out there’s more:
Boston Sports Journal
Boston's fast-growing, fully-credentialed, flying-everywhere collection of professional journalists covering Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and more…
It would be suspicious but perhaps explainable even at that number if Leonard actually performed services. But then you throw in the fact Leonard didn’t have to do anything and this is something the Clippers won’t be able to, or shouldn’t be able to at least, wiggle out of.
edit: listening to the podcast now, and there’s company’s extremely close ties to Bakker and the fact that paying this Leonard contract was priority one even while the company’s ship was sinking is wild. I’m not familiar with the bankruptcy case at all but I wonder if these payments are something the trustee may try to claw back.
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Juxtatarot
Footballguy
Interesting that Bobby Marks and Mark Cuban have come to the Clippers defense. What seems obviously wrong to a layman like me might not technically be a salary cap violation.
Cuban didn’t exactly address the details of the situation, more of a character reference. Didn’t see what Marks said.
Capella
Footballguy
Tried to give 20 bucks to the company that was broadcasting this thing but couldn’t ever get the app to work. Blows espn doesn’t have it on their app I was looking forward to watching.
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
Here’s the Marks video. He went through an investigation with the Nets so he should know what he’s talking about. His point seems to be that there needs to be direct evidence.
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Major
Footballguy
I hate how hard the NBA and other leagues make it to watch your teams/players. I had to watch it on my bootleg streaming site which works surprisingly well. Gave up trying to give my money to the NBA years ago with all the League Pass blackouts.
I don't know what his basis for this statement is. He's saying the Clippers cannot get in any trouble unless there's a document that literally states that the marketing agreement was arranged as part of an inducement to keep him with the Clippers. He's also saying that testimony from employees in the company at issue is totally irrelevant.Here’s the Marks video. He went through an investigation with the Nets so he should know what he’s talking about. His point seems to be that there needs to be direct evidence.
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The CBA is a contract that impose whatever standards regarding the evidentiary support for a finding of circumvention it wants, but the standard Marks is talking about here is far, far more demanding than what you'd need to get a criminal conviction. Pretty sure the league has far more latitude to discipline owners based on circumstantial evidence than he's giving the league credit for.
He also said "this doesn't meet the smell test for a situation where the team is circumventing the salary cap" which is such a ludicrous statement for anyone who has listened to the Pablo pod that I find it hard to believe he's researched this at all.
Also, for what it’s worth, Zach Lowe just said on his podcast this morning that his sources expressly say the type of direct evidence Marks says is required is not, in fact, required.I don't know what his basis for this statement is. He's saying the Clippers cannot get in any trouble unless there's a document that literally states that the marketing agreement was arranged as part of an inducement to keep him with the Clippers. He's also saying that testimony from employees in the company at issue is totally irrelevant.Here’s the Marks video. He went through an investigation with the Nets so he should know what he’s talking about. His point seems to be that there needs to be direct evidence.
- YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
The CBA is a contract that impose whatever standards regarding the evidentiary support for a finding of circumvention it wants, but the standard Marks is talking about here is far, far more demanding than what you'd need to get a criminal conviction. Pretty sure the league has far more latitude to discipline owners based on circumstantial evidence than he's giving the league credit for.
He also said "this doesn't meet the smell test for a situation where the team is circumventing the salary cap" which is such a ludicrous statement for anyone who has listened to the Pablo pod that I find it hard to believe he's researched this at all.
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