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Posted
43 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Because none have a voice I want to hear through my speakers for 2.5-3 hours. is there a reason why you singled out that line? is there a woman play by play out there you like to listen to? if so, who is it?

Yes. Doris Burke! Bumping her down and leaving Richard Jefferson there is ridiculous. 

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Posted
3 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

cool. because neither of those guys are play by play. 

Ah. So if a chick was just providing color to a men's sport for 2.5-3 hours, that would be more amenable to your ear holes?

Posted
7 hours ago, aggie08 said:

Ah. So if a chick was just providing color to a men's sport for 2.5-3 hours, that would be more amenable to your ear holes?

probably not. Theres not a large sample pool of women color commentators. I'm sure if theyre good...I'd ignore what I've said. Burkes pretty much the only example and she set the bar low.

Posted

Burke was better like a decade ago, especially her on the court interviews.  Now? She's a bit of a league office shill and she's not as good in the 3-person crew.  Maybe she just had better chemistry with JJ (I'm so pretty, kiss me JJ) 

She should do better just next to Pasch on the B-team.  Wish they had nuked Richard Jefferson into the sun, he brings NOTHING to the in-game crew.  He's better in studio. 

Rebecca Lobo feels now what Burke was a decade ago, but she just does NCAAW/WNBA.  Which is a shame, I think she is really good. But she knows her niche is the women's game and she sticks to it. 

 

Posted

I agree with your Burke comments.. maybe B team with pasch who worked with Walton for years and can work with anybody is better suited for her.

there’s a few guy commentators I can do without. I’m not saying every guy is perfect. I’d rather listen to Burke over Stan Van Gundy for example. I’m also not a big Jefferson guy either.

I can stomach Reggie better than others. He kinda brings the tony romo vibes to games which I know isn’t for everybody.

Looking forward to some new blood color guys with prime, nbc and peacock. I know van gundy weaseled his way onto one of those platforms so that still sucks but curious to hear the others

Posted

I feel like nothing is going to happen, but if this leads to this piece of shit being expelled from the league and having to make ends meet in a backwater professional league, I wouldn’t be upset. 

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Posted
I feel like nothing is going to happen, but if this leads to this piece of shit being expelled from the league and having to make ends meet in a backwater professional league, I wouldn’t be upset. 

Joe smith scandal 2.0.

Idiots all around if this comes to fruition. Also this was the nicest KL post you’ve ever made @Kermit
Posted

The Uncle Dennis special. Of course he did this. I can’t believe Ballmer went along with this. 
 

20 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:


Joe smith scandal 2.0.

Idiots all around if this comes to fruition. Also this was the nicest KL post you’ve ever made @Kermit

This is way worse than the Joe Smith deal. That was a wink wink deal that Kevin Mchale was just too stupid to put onto paper. Back then, lots of players signed below market value contracts that gave them bird rights so that teams could give them bigger contracts after the bird rights came into play in the future.

This? This is straight up paying a dude completely outside of the structure of the cap and CBA. This is like an SEC bagman but in the process they defrauded every other team in the league from getting their share of the additional luxury tax. Just unbelievable. They are going to get the book thrown at them and deservedly so.

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Posted

Weren't there rumors that KL and Uncle Dennis asked for quite a bit from TOR and LAL in negotiations and both front offices were like, we cannot legally provide you that....

Sounds like LAC said

Thinking Ok GIF

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Posted
48 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Weren't there rumors that KL and Uncle Dennis asked for quite a bit from TOR and LAL in negotiations and both front offices were like, we cannot legally provide you that....

Sounds like LAC said

Thinking Ok GIF

Yes. That is exactly what happened more so with the Lakers than Toronto. I don't think he had any intention of living outside of southern California but for sure this was deal killer for the Lakers.

From back in 2019:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1481876/2019/12/23/improper-requests-an-investigation-and-a-superstar-chase-gone-sideways-the-untold-stories-from-kawhi-leonards-free-agency-that-left-the-lakers-fuming/

 

Quote

 According to three sources with knowledge of the situation, the NBA conducted a formal investigation of the Clippers last summer after complaints surfaced that Robertson had asked for improper benefits during the free agency process.

While sources with knowledge of the investigation said no evidence was found indicating that the Clippers had granted any of the lavish requests, the underlying message coming from Commissioner Adam Silver remains: He sees salary cap circumvention as a cardinal sin in the NBA, and will always keep a watchful eye on that front. If any relevant evidence of improper benefits surfaces in the future, the league will re-open the investigation and pursue the charges yet again.

“We did tell our teams (at the Board of Governors meeting in New York in late September) that we are looking into and continue to look into activities from this summer,” Silver told The Athletic earlier this season when asked if the Clippers were under investigation. “I will also say that we (were) trying to draw a line at this board meeting, and focus everyone on the (free agency) rules going forward. I think that (I’ll) just leave it at that. We are looking at the behavior from the summer. We have and we continue to look at it, but first and foremost we want to change the way business is done going forward.”

The stories about Robertson’s wish list made their way to the league office soon after Leonard made his decision, with concerned parties reporting that Leonard’s uncle had asked pursuing teams for much, much more than a max contract (Kawhi ultimately signed a three-year, $103 million deal with the Clippers). Sources say the league was told that Robertson asked team officials for part ownership of the team, a private plane that would be available at all times, a house and  — last but certainly not least — a guaranteed amount of off-court endorsement money that they could expect if Leonard played for their team. All of those items, to be clear, would fall well outside the confines of the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

A source with knowledge of the Kawhi-Lakers talks said Robertson made those requests repeatedly to owner Jeanie Buss over the course of three phone calls that spanned several days, and that she made it clear that such perks were illegal and would not be considered. There was even a question raised by Robertson about why Lakers legend Magic Johnson had been given a small piece of Lakers ownership so many years ago, with Buss explaining that the two situations couldn’t have been more different – even beyond the fact that one was legal and the other was not.

 

 

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Posted
4 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

guaranteed amount of off-court endorsement money that they could expect if Leonard played for their team. All of those items, to be clear, would fall well outside the confines of the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

Season 7 Oops GIF by Workaholics

Posted (edited)

Funny because one of the Founders of that tree planting company was arrested in March for fraud. The whole company seems like a sham, one of those "green" companies that fakes a lot of its numbers to raise money fighting climate change, while pocketing most of the funds and lying about their activities. Read the wiki page on their history and it sounds like a huge fraud. Surprised that Ballmer would use this bunch of idiots to pay Kawhi under the table and expect it to stay hidden. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspiration,_Inc.

 

Quote

As of May 2020, Aspiration had raised over $250 million in funding.[7][8][9]

In August 2021, Aspiration announced that it would go public on the New York Stock Exchange by merging with the special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) InterPrivate III Financial Partners in a $2.3 billion merger. Ahead of the merger, Oaktree Capital Management and investment affiliates of billionaire Steve Ballmer committed $315 million in additional financing to Aspiration.[10]

In October 2022, Olivia Albrecht succeeded Andrei Cherny as CEO of Aspiration.[11]

In January 2024, the United States Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission launched an investigation into the firm's claims to have planted 35 million trees to offset carbon emissions. Cherny told ProPublica that only 12 million trees had been planted.[12] Bloomberg reported that authorities were reviewing Cherny's and Sanberg's actions as part of the probe.[12][13]

On March 31, 2025, Aspiration Partners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after it was reported that its co-founder was arrested and facing felony fraud charges. The company plans to shed most of its debt and sell itself to creditors.[14]

On September 3rd, 2025, ESPN Investigative Journalist Pablo S. Torre revealed that Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers used Aspiration as a means of paying Kawhi Leonard an extra $28 million dollars, circumventing the NBA salary cap. [15]

 

Edited by Dutchrudder
Posted
9 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

Funny because one of the Founders of that tree planting company was arrested in March for fraud.

Wasn’t that how Pablo got the documents?  They filed chapter 11 and he had access to all their internal documents 

Posted
The Uncle Dennis special. Of course he did this. I can’t believe Ballmer went along with this. 
 
This is way worse than the Joe Smith deal. That was a wink wink deal that Kevin Mchale was just too stupid to put onto paper. Back then, lots of players signed below market value contracts that gave them bird rights so that teams could give them bigger contracts after the bird rights came into play in the future.
This? This is straight up paying a dude completely outside of the structure of the cap and CBA. This is like an SEC bagman but in the process they defrauded every other team in the league from getting their share of the additional luxury tax. Just unbelievable. They are going to get the book thrown at them and deservedly so.

Damn. Will be interesting to see what silver does with this one..
Posted
1 minute ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:


Damn. Will be interesting to see what silver does with this one..

It really will. Stern was such a hard ass but I don't know that Silver has the balls to really drop the hammer on them. He kind of has to though. He's going to get massive pressure from the other owners. The original penalty Stern dropped on the Wolves was something like 5 FRP and they suspended their owner and Kevin McHale.

Of course, the big winner in all of this will probably be OKC who has control of the Clippers FRP for the next two years. Typical of the way things have been breaking for them. 

Posted

What a fucking legacy Kawhi--"the humble, quiet dude who only wants to win"--is going to leave. 

I honestly don't blame him too much for this...who's saying no to a billionaire offering you an extra $30M on the down low (but technically still legal)? But does he even make the Hall at this point?

Posted
26 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Wasn’t that how Pablo got the documents?  They filed chapter 11 and he had access to all their internal documents 

Maybe? I haven't read his story. The company is a non-profit according to their website. It's unbelievable that a company with that mission could take in so much money and end up $170 million in debt. It will be interesting to see where all the funds went as there is more uncovered. Using a non-profit to funnel $28 million to an NBA player sounds an awful lot like money laundering to me.  Ballmer could be in for some legal trouble or significant fines beyond whatever the NBA will do. 

Posted
11 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Yes, I'm sure the richest owner in all of sports--and technically Adam Silver's boss--is really going to get the book thrown at him. He may even lose his team!

1 of 30 bosses. And the other 29 will be justifiably pissed off. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, aggie08 said:

I honestly don't blame him too much for this...

I blame him a lot. This is an extremely shitty thing to do. And lord knows he doesn't need the money. Maybe his piece of dogshit uncle got in deep with the wrong people. 

Fuck em both. 

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Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I blame him a lot. This is an extremely shitty thing to do. And lord knows he doesn't need the money. Maybe his piece of dogshit uncle got in deep with the wrong people. 

Fuck em both. 

I blame him a lot, because it sounds like he asked both Toronto and LAL for similar endorsement deals without having to do the work. 

He took an extra $7 million a year, under the table, to circumvent the salary cap. 

He sucks.  Like he couldn't agree to his picture in marketing materials and show up once a year, take a few pics, shake some hands and play with a shovel so it looked legit? 

Edited by Js1
Posted
21 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I blame him a lot. This is an extremely shitty thing to do. And lord knows he doesn't need the money. Maybe his piece of dogshit uncle got in deep with the wrong people. 

Fuck em both. 

 

17 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I blame him a lot, because it sounds like he asked both Toronto and LAL for similar endorsement deals without having to do the work. 

He took an extra $7 million a year, under the table, to circumvent the salary cap. 

He sucks.  Like he couldn't agree to his picture in marketing materials and show up once a year, take a few pics, shake some hands and play with a shovel so it looked legit? 

Also perfectly reasonable takes. Certainly not here to white knight for Kawhi fucking Leonard.

But how fucking stupid/arrogant is Steve Balmer? More the latter I suppose since I imagine dudes like Ballmer are pretty used to giving/receiving money to/from causes, companies, people, politicians, etc. under the table and getting away with it.

Posted
30 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

 

Also perfectly reasonable takes. Certainly not here to white knight for Kawhi fucking Leonard.

But how fucking stupid/arrogant is Steve Balmer? More the latter I suppose since I imagine dudes like Ballmer are pretty used to giving/receiving money to/from causes, companies, people, politicians, etc. under the table and getting away with it.

Isn't Ballmer so famously engrossed in the day-to-day, he even knew the details of the toilets being installed at Inuit? 

I do not believe the legalese that he had no idea this was happening and it was purely between KL's team and Aspiration, and he had no part of it. 

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Posted (edited)

Gotta make an example out of the Clippers - nullify Kawhi's contract and give him a 1 year suspension, suspend Ballmer for at least 2 years (if not force him to sell), and the organization forfeit all their draft picks for the next 5 years (whatever they have left).

 

Edited by Message Board User
Posted

Saw Mark Cuban talking about this on twitter earlier and he was defending Ballmer saying that he was probably ripped off by this company too and that he had nothing to do with the KL contract.  If it weren't Kawhi and his uncle's crazy shit during his free agency, I would be more inclined to give Ballmer the benefit of the doubt. 

But it doesn't pass the smell test. If he is guilty, it's not only the Clippers ass but it is going to be a fun one for the players union, too. They're going to have a lot to say about any punishment of Kawhi.

Also, karma is a bitch, motherfucker.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Js1 said:

Isn't Ballmer so famously engrossed in the day-to-day, he even knew the details of the toilets being installed at Inuit? 

Yes, but Alaskan plumbing can be tricky.

Posted (edited)
2 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Godspeed to those heroes. Hopefully they aren't hanged or shut away in some shithole prison for the rest of their lives. 

RIP me watching redzone and random NBA games for free on that site. But redzone will have commercials this year from what I hear. There goes Disney ruining another thing that I loved.

Edited by Pam Cummings
Posted
43 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Saw Mark Cuban talking about this on twitter earlier and he was defending Ballmer saying that he was probably ripped off by this company too and that he had nothing to do with the KL contract.  If it weren't Kawhi and his uncle's crazy shit during his free agency, I would be more inclined to give Ballmer the benefit of the doubt. 

But it doesn't pass the smell test. If he is guilty, it's not only the Clippers ass but it is going to be a fun one for the players union, too. They're going to have a lot to say about any punishment of Kawhi.

Also, karma is a bitch, motherfucker.

Ballmer pledged $315 million to this company in 2021 for it to merge with another company and go to IPO, but that also happens to be about the time Kawhi signed his first extension with the Clips. There's no way Ballmer would not know about the Kawhi side of it, it's mostly his investment propping up the company. More likely is that he already had a relationship with Aspiration and used this company as an avenue to provide cash to his team's player for a modest donation of a few million bucks a year.

I think Cuban is jumping to conclusions to defend a guy he likes, but here's the tweet for context. In a later tweet he agreed to go on Pablos show to discuss the situation, which may be interesting if he can bring receipts.

 

 

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