NBA Kawitters Legacy taking another hit

Pablo Torre broke the story last week and the NBA has already hired a firm to start the investigation. There has already been a federal investigation into Aspiration that led to the CEO's fraud conviction. Additionally, there is a pending lawsuit by Randy Shelton (Kawhi's trainer) vs the Clippers alleging that Kawhi was illegally recruited to the Clippers while still on the Spurs. There's a lot of smoke around Kawhi/Clips.

The tip-off on this whole thing in the bankruptcy filings was the shell company that paid Kawhi, KL2Aspire, LLC.
 
scott said:
The ol' classic "the rich guy didn't do it because there's no way he'd do it this stupidly" defense is one of my favorites
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Exactly. It’s the rich guy doing something stupid because he’s a rich guy and got away with something even stupider because just because he’s rich.
 
Holy shit. Things could be really bad for the Ballmer and the Clips. The last two teams this firm investigated both changed ownership.

From the article:

If the league ultimately levies punishment on Ballmer, the Clippers and/or Leonard, the CBA allows for several options. And because they have already been disciplined for breaking league rules of this kind — they were fined $250,000 in August 2015 relating to the free agency of big man DeAndre Jordan — the outcome could be more severe.

Per Section 3 of Article XIII, which details the “Penalties” within the section that covers salary cap circumvention, any team that violates league rules for a second time, as well as the player, could face the following outcomes (after their case goes to an appeals panel):

  • A fine of up to $7.5 million.
  • The “direct forfeiture of draft picks.”
  • The voiding of the player’s contract, “or any Renegotiation, Extension, or amendment of a Player Contract, between such player and such Team.”
  • A fine of up to $350,000 for the player.
  • A suspension for up to one year for “any Team personnel found to have willfully engaged in such violation.”
  • The voiding of any transaction or agreement found to have violated league rules, and the forced forfeiture of funds received in the deal, “unless the player establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that he was unaware of the violation.”
 
Exstatic said:
Holy shit. Things could be really bad for the Ballmer and the Clips. The last two teams this firm investigated both changed ownership.

From the article:

If the league ultimately levies punishment on Ballmer, the Clippers and/or Leonard, the CBA allows for several options. And because they have already been disciplined for breaking league rules of this kind — they were fined $250,000 in August 2015 relating to the free agency of big man DeAndre Jordan — the outcome could be more severe.

Per Section 3 of Article XIII, which details the “Penalties” within the section that covers salary cap circumvention, any team that violates league rules for a second time, as well as the player, could face the following outcomes (after their case goes to an appeals panel):

  • A fine of up to $7.5 million.
  • The “direct forfeiture of draft picks.”
  • The voiding of the player’s contract, “or any Renegotiation, Extension, or amendment of a Player Contract, between such player and such Team.”
  • A fine of up to $350,000 for the player.
  • A suspension for up to one year for “any Team personnel found to have willfully engaged in such violation.”
  • The voiding of any transaction or agreement found to have violated league rules, and the forced forfeiture of funds received in the deal, “unless the player establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that he was unaware of the violation.”
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Nice sleuthing!
 
ginobilized said:
Nice sleuthing!
Click to expand...
That was just a cut and paste from the linked article.

The hilarious part is that previous violation. Deandre wanted to leave the Clippers and sign with Dallas, but the Clippers sent a bunch of players to kidnap him,holding him in a hotel room until he agreed to stay. That clusterfuck basically set the table for much more severe penalties in this case.
 
I guess Kawhi wanted to do something nice for trees after riding so much pine
 
The writing is on the wall and his time is coming to an end anyhow. His Uncle could've let him shine with the Spurs and rode off with a prestigious legacy but that's all been tarnished chasing $. As if the millions he's made weren't already enough... Oh well. Dude is already in his 30's and still playing half a season at best.
 
Balmer just built that new Clippers stadium that opened Aug 2024 and spent like $2B so this is really bad timing for LAC. Weird thing is Aspiration Bank was going to put $300 million into a rights deal with Intuit dome in 2021 before going bankrupt so I haven't looked too much into it but wonder if that's another connection to this story.

  • Aspiration, a California-based online bank that espouses green-friendly business pratices, becomes a founding partner in the Los Angeles Clippers’ new arena in a deal valued at more than $300 million. [Sept 2021]
 
They really should throw the book at nephew and his bitch uncle but tbh I don't have faith in Silver to hand down severe punishment. Stern would have nailed Kawhi and co's ass to the tree of woe
 
Neuromancer said:
They really should throw the book at nephew and his bitch uncle but tbh I don't have faith in Silver to hand down severe punishment. Stern would have nailed Kawhi and co's ass to the tree of woe
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Silver forced the sale of the Clippers once, and turned up so much shit on Sarver during that investigation that he was basically shamed into selling the Suns.
 
Exstatic said:
Silver forced the sale of the Clippers once, and turned up so much shit on Sarver during that investigation that he was basically shamed into selling the Suns.
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The issue is that Sterling and Sarver were disgusting scumbags that also ruined those franchises, while Ballmer keeps spending as much money as he's allowed to on the Clippers. He's exactly the type of owner the league wants.
 
LeBowen said:
The issue is that Sterling and Sarver were disgusting scumbags that also ruined those franchises, while Ballmer keeps spending as much money as he's allowed to on the Clippers. He's exactly the type of owner the league wants.
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Eh, dunno about that. He could buy out each owner and still have several billion dollars left. He’s spending on areas for which he has no cap - stadiums, medical staff, etc. I’m pretty sure the other owners are wary of him for this reason.
 
The_Second_Coming_of_VY65 said:
Eh, dunno about that. He could buy out each owner and still have several billion dollars left. He’s spending on areas for which he has no cap - stadiums, medical staff, etc. I’m pretty sure the other owners are wary of him for this reason.
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That's why I said as much as he's allowed.
All those things you mentioned are as important as the roster itself. A lot of owners cheap out on practice facilities etc.
For example MPJ said the Nets facilities are much better than what they have in Denver with just one court.
Bane said Grizzlies facility doesn't have windows when he arrived in Orlando.

How many teams fucked players over with poor medical staff?
 
LeBowen said:
That's why I said as much as he's allowed.
All those things you mentioned are as important as the roster itself. A lot of owners cheap out on practice facilities etc.
For example MPJ said the Nets facilities are much better than what they have in Denver with just one court.
Bane said Grizzlies facility doesn't have windows when he arrived in Orlando.

How many teams fucked players over with poor medical staff?
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A group of owners are being shorted luxury tax distributions because he circumvented the cap/tax. I think they care a lot more about that.
 
LeBowen said:
That's why I said as much as he's allowed.
All those things you mentioned are as important as the roster itself. A lot of owners cheap out on practice facilities etc.
For example MPJ said the Nets facilities are much better than what they have in Denver with just one court.
Bane said Grizzlies facility doesn't have windows when he arrived in Orlando.

How many teams fucked players over with poor medical staff?
Click to expand...
Well, I think the whole point is that Ballmer is spending more on the Clippers than he's allowed. But the point I'm trying to make is that owners who can't spend tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars on team-related expenses not covered by the CBA represents a threat to the less-rich owners. I don't think the league wants owners like that who can find non-capped areas to spend on to the detriment of less rich owners. That's why the second-apron is so harsh.
 
As one of the few who still appreciated kawhi despite the wreckage he left behind after leaving the spurs, I always felt it would almost take an act of murder to get to a point where I'd turn my back on what he's done after he won this franchise a ring. HOWEVER, this kind of backroom shit is gutless, selfish, and completely lacks integrity. I could have respect for a guy getting what he can from a piece of a pie, even if it means leaving san antonio, all while pushing to go to your preferred destination. But to cheat and try to have your cake and eat it to, completely screwing over other small market teams in the process is weak ass shit. COMPLETELY TARNISHED HIS LEGACY. sad because I honestly believe he could have surpassed kobe in reputation with how he put the fear of god in lebron, and how he won the raptors their first chip.
 
Exstatic said:
A group of owners are being shorted luxury tax distributions because he circumvented the cap/tax. I think they care a lot more about that.
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Has anyone crunched the numbers on the amount of lost tax revenue? Given only 21 million was paid, and that number is being spread over what? 5-10 teams, I don't think the loss of about 3 million in tax revenue is that big of a deal.
 
The_Second_Coming_of_VY65 said:
Has anyone crunched the numbers on the amount of lost tax revenue? Given only 21 million was paid, and that number is being spread over what? 5-10 teams, I don't think the loss of about 3 million in tax revenue is that big of a deal.
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How do you figure $3M? The payments in cash and stocks were $48M for a team already into the aprons. That number would be multiplied several times because of apron penalties,then divided by the receiving teams,
 
Hmmm... on one hand, rich assholes don't like anyone with their hand in their cookie jar... on the other hand, rich assholes don't like other rich assholes to ever have to face accountability, lest they have to face their own one day.
 
Exstatic said:
How do you figure $3M? The payments in cash and stocks were $48M for a team already into the aprons. That number would be multiplied several times because of apron penalties,then divided by the receiving teams,
Click to expand...
Some really rough math. I just assumed 7 under the cap teams splitting up 21 million over three years. 21/7 = 3.
 
What a wild situation this has become. As the investigation unfolds and penalties are levied, the back-stabbing and coercion among the players in this scheme will be must-watch tv. The conversations between Uncle Dennis, Kawhi, the Aspiration fraudster and Ballmer must be pretty dramatic. I'll say this, I wouldn't want my economic well-being and ownership of a team hinging (in part) upon the testimony of Uncle Dennis.

Is there a more doomed franchise than the Clippers?

Oh, and the NBA Board of Governors meeting is today. This story has got to be at the top of the list there.
 
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