00:00All right, we got a news update here on an NBA story.
00:03We've kind of been waiting for a resolution, too.
00:06This is a report from Baxter Holmes.
00:09I'm not making many Baxters anymore.
00:10Baxter Holmes, Don Vanata Jr., and Ramona Shelburne.
00:16It says from ESPN, the NBA has found no evidence
00:21showing LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money
00:26through team sponsors to pay Kawhi Leonard
00:29in order to circumvent the salary cap,
00:31according to three people with knowledge of the discussion
00:34between the two sides in recent days.
00:37So no evidence that he was funneling money.
00:40Instead, the NBA is focused on whether the team's introduction of Leonard,
00:44the team sponsors, constitutes a violation of the league rules
00:47prohibiting salary cap circumvention.
00:49Two sources said the league is examining whether the Clippers are guilty
00:52of, quote, failure to supervise employees,
00:55penalties, though it's unclear what specific rule the team would have violated
00:59or what penalties those would be, two sources said.
01:03Go ahead, bud.
01:04So they didn't find Steve Ballmer wrong for anything so far?
01:09So far, it appears like Steve Ballmer has his hands clean in something.
01:15But the explanation says that he could still be responsible
01:21for introducing the two of them.
01:23But I would say what NBA player is going to say no?
01:29If any owner introduce a player to another one of his rich friends
01:36and say, hey, he want to do some business with you, right?
01:40What does one have to do with the other?
01:44They write, the league presented its initial findings of the investigation
01:47to the Clippers in late July, according to multiple people familiar
01:50with the matter.
01:51In recent days, both sides have begun negotiating a resolution
01:54to the investigation.
01:57Negotiating?
01:57That means you did something.
01:59If you're not saying that they're wrong, there's no negotiating.
02:02Right.
02:02It appears that they see that something was amiss here.
02:06It's just a matter of, you know, will Steve Ballmer get banned
02:10or anything like that?
02:11Does Kawhi have to give the money back?
02:12He don't care.
02:13I don't know.
02:14Please.
02:16And what does that have to do with the trade to Toronto?
02:18That's the number one thing.
02:20That's the number one thing.
02:22Because if they said he did no wrongdoing,
02:24then that means the trade can go through.
02:26Right.
02:28And he was hanging out in Canada.
02:30I mean, Kawhi, I think, wants to go through
02:32because it seems like Toronto wants to extend him.
02:33They just don't want to deal with if Kawhi gets suspended
02:37because we know this Adam Silver.
02:38He loves other teams holding the bag.
02:40This is like asking your wife to investigate herself
02:43on having an extramarital affair
02:47and think she's going to be truthful.
02:50We have no evidence of it.
02:51But can we say that somebody didn't introduce her to somebody?
02:55Hard to say.
02:57All I know is this.
02:58Something better come out of this
02:59because if Pablo did all this work and nothing happens,
03:03that's a Pulitzer for nothing.
03:05I think that's a question of, too,
03:07like with the Pablo Torre thing is like,
03:11yes, something stinks,
03:13but does everybody have something that stinks
03:15so the rest of the owners don't want punishment
03:17for said stinkage?
03:19Because then you got to point it out for everybody doing it.
03:22Right.
03:23Correct.
03:23Right.
03:25And that's the big question here.
03:27It's just like,
03:28what about everybody that played for the,
03:30for the,
03:34for Charlotte that had Jordan deals?
03:40Oh,
03:41good point.
03:42What do you do about that?
03:44Good point.
03:44Did Charlotte have anybody who had Jordan?
03:45Yeah,
03:45Steven Jackson.
03:46Yeah.
03:47Yeah,
03:47he's right.
03:48He's absolutely right.
03:49So,
03:50and that's his own company.
03:52Right.
03:54So he's saying,
03:55Hey,
03:55I'll pay you,
03:55I'll pay you 6 million.
03:57I'll pay you 6 million,
03:59but I give you a four year,
04:01$45 million shoe deal.
04:03But here's the thing that's,
04:04this is the problem with it.
04:05And I think this is why it sparked.
04:07This is what the,
04:08the,
04:08what sparked such a thing.
04:11People could have sponsorships.
04:13The thing that was crazy about this is like,
04:15I'd imagine if Steven Jackson did have a Jordan sponsorship,
04:19this might be crazy,
04:20Leroy.
04:20I would imagine he would be wearing Jordan shoes on the court.
04:24He would be wearing Jordan apparel.
04:26Yeah.
04:26This guy took money from a company and didn't do anything for them.
04:29That's their fault.
04:31They didn't ask him to do that.
04:32We don't,
04:32we don't know if he didn't do anything.
04:35We don't know if he didn't do anything.
04:37Well,
04:37the company doesn't exist and there's no evidence that he did anything for them.
04:40I mean,
04:41dude,
04:41they're giving a graduate degrees online to,
04:45to,
04:46to,
04:46to people to claim that they're doctors,
04:48you know,
04:49where do they give those out here?
04:50The strip mall down here.
04:51No,
04:52well,
04:52Dr.
04:52I remember the whole scandal with the actors in,
04:54um,
04:55California.
04:57Uh,
04:57which one with their kid?
04:59No.
04:59Remember the kids going to getting into college.
05:01Oh yeah.
05:02No,
05:02no,
05:02no.
05:02Oh yeah.
05:03the,
05:04uh,
05:04the full house lady,
05:05right?
05:05Yeah.
05:05Lori Lachman.
05:07Yeah.
05:07Yeah.
05:07Lori Lachman,
05:08Rebecca,
05:09Becky,
05:09Becca.
05:10Yeah.
05:10So,
05:11well,
05:11I think,
05:12but that's that.
05:12So that's what it comes down is like when people have apparel sponsorships,
05:17usually they wear the apparel.
05:19You know,
05:20and that technically is part of your sponsorship,
05:22you know?
05:23But if the owner of the team owned the apparel company,
05:26he's giving apparel to boost,
05:29bolster your income.
05:31No,
05:31he is,
05:32but at least you're doing something to earn the income.
05:34The thing with Kawhi is he was given allegedly this introduction to this,
05:41this tree credit company.
05:44He didn't even post about it on Instagram.
05:46He didn't post anything.
05:47Like,
05:47so I'm sure there's,
05:49and that's probably why the owners don't want like a lot of deals out there.
05:52Cause yes,
05:52I'm sure there's circumvention,
05:54but the thing that alerted this,
05:56why it was such a red flag is he had the biggest chunk of sponsorship money,
06:00more than Brad Pitt,
06:02more than other celebrities.
06:04And he didn't do anything for the money.
06:08So that's on the company.
06:10Is it on the company or is it because this,
06:13that or is,
06:13or is it a shell game?
06:14It's like,
06:15it's to,
06:15it's to make it look for the company.
06:16But,
06:17but again,
06:18if,
06:18if,
06:18if you say,
06:19so here's what I'm saying,
06:21Toby,
06:24imagine you wearing,
06:26you have a Adidas contract,
06:29right?
06:30Mm-hmm.
06:31And then Jordan convinces you to go to play for Charlotte.
06:35And then you switch to Nike and get another.
06:38Right.
06:38Seven,
06:388 million a year.
06:40Mm-hmm.
06:40Same thing.
06:41Even though you're wearing the shoes,
06:43but I'm wearing the shoes.
06:43You're choosing a company to jack up your income.
06:47It is.
06:48I understand what you're saying,
06:50but at least in that case,
06:51at least I have the sponsorship.
06:53I'm doing something for the sponsorship.
06:55You know what I mean?
06:57Okay.
06:57Like it's,
06:58if somebody came to the Miami heat,
07:00like let's say that he wanted to pay Steph Curry to do carnival commercials.
07:03They wanted to have him replace Shaq as the chief fun officer.
07:06I'd imagine that I'd imagine Steph Curry would at least do a carnival commercial.
07:11Correct.
07:12You know?
07:13And I think that's what it is with the Kawhi Leonard thing is like the idea that he didn't do
07:17anything.
07:18Was it?
07:19Now they probably thought who the hell is going to look into this?
07:21They're probably right.
07:23Who would have looked into?
07:24I didn't even know what this company was.
07:25Aspiration.
07:26Seems stupid.
07:28That's fine.
07:28Plant trees for people.
07:30I'll plant a tree if I want to.
07:32I don't want somebody else planting a tree.
07:33How's that making millions of dollars too?
07:36I don't know.
07:38I have mango trees that just pop up like another mango tree.
07:43I'm trying to get rid of these mango trees.
07:45I'm allergic.
07:45Don't touch it.
07:46I had to cut another one yesterday.
07:48It was growing out of a bush.
07:50More mangoes?
07:52You should have me run Aspiration.
07:54I could do it for celebrities.
07:56You want a mango tree?
07:57Come to Tobin's.
08:00More mango trees than I know what to do with.
08:01Can somebody sponsor just to get, let's get Leroy's tickle stick.
08:08That's the name of the hour, by the way, on the pod.
08:11Let's get Leroy's tickle stick.
08:13We get the big ones.
08:15Now, if Steph Curry did want to do a carnival commercial.
08:20Oh, you're going to get that.
08:23So, what if he did that?
08:24Aisha on there, too?
08:25Oh, of course.
08:26For the family.
08:27What if the Curry family did a carnival commercial, and he comes for the minimum, but he's making
08:35$20 million.
08:36Amazing.
08:37But he did a commercial?
08:39Sounds like he did a job.
08:45But I think that's probably why teams don't want it.
08:49Because I'm sure, dude, I'm sure this is happening all over the place, which is why I don't think
08:54anything's going to happen to Steve Ballmer.
08:56You know?
08:57I think, I'm sure there are plenty of, like, wink-wink deals.
09:00It's just, I think they all look at this.
09:02We know that, Tobin.
09:03But if nothing happens to him, then what was the point of this whole year, then?
09:07I don't know.
09:08Because, I mean, what people would like for this to happen, people would like for Ballmer
09:12to get in trouble, and then now that can open the gates for other teams to be looked upon.
09:18But the owners don't want that, and the commissioner works for the owners.
09:22Because he, I feel like they want, if this happens, like, say, Kawhi and Ballmer and the
09:28Clippers get caught, then they can go into the Knicks and try to figure out, well, why did
09:31Jalen Brunson go to the Knicks and give up $113 million?
09:34And nobody wants that.
09:36And nobody would want that, but nobody, everybody, you would open up to a lot of teams.
09:40Like, every team would be now open.
09:42Absolutely.
09:43You know, how did the Heat really get the big three?
09:45Of course.
09:46You know?
09:46That can happen.
09:47You don't want that to happen.
09:48No, definitely.
09:50The rich don't want their stuff out there.
09:52Like, that's, and the other thing is, if they did, this guy's so rich that, like,
09:58he'll, I mean, if he wanted to, he'd probably take the legalities of this to the highest order
10:03because of how rich he is.
10:05Because that guy loves owning a basketball team.
10:07You're not taking that guy's basketball team away.
10:08That guy's a kook.
10:09You ever see him on the sidelines?
10:11Of course.
10:12You're not taking his basketball team away.
10:14Listen, Steve Ballmer is a great owner.
10:16Of course.
10:17He shows a lot of love to everybody that's involved.
10:20He's appreciative of anybody that goes and watches his Clippers team play, and he's a
10:25fan.
10:26Like, he's really a fan.
10:28I don't really think he did anything wrong, but I don't think he was doing anything to
10:32get an advantage over the competition.
10:38So, I just, it'll be nice for this story to end very soon.
10:42He tried to get the advantage.
10:44He unfortunately traded away SGA in the midst.
10:49Listen, nobody can, Tobin, nobody's going to tell, nobody can tell you that, oh, you
10:53know, these years are going to go by really quickly, and it's going to let you realize
10:56you made a big mistake.
10:57At the time, when they were going for an NBA championship and trying to compete with the
11:01Lakers, getting Paul George and Kawhi was the move.
11:05Who knew?
11:06Who knew?
11:08Crazy, man.
11:09That they would never be healthy together?
11:11Sam Presti knew.
11:13No, yeah.
11:13Who knew they weren't going to be healthy together?
11:14Who knew that, you know, Lou Will would rather go get some lemon pepper wings at the, you
11:21know, at the strip club instead of the bubble?
11:24Well, they were the team that was like, we hate the bubble.
11:27They hated the bubble more than anybody, the Clippers.
11:29Right.
11:30Don't really know why.
11:32Well, lemon pepper Lou, we know why.
11:37Got to get those lemon peppers, man.
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