00:00Just when it looked like Kawhi Leonard might finally be in the clear, Pablo Torre says, uh-uh, not so
00:06fast.
00:07So there's new news to Kawhi Gate, and here's where we're at with it all.
00:11So on Monday, ESPN reported that the NBA's investigation found no evidence Clippers owner Steve Ballmer personally funneled money to
00:20Kawhi Leonard.
00:21And on the surface, that sounds like good news for Ballmer and the Clippers, right?
00:26But here's the thing. That report doesn't come close to closing this case.
00:31Nope. The league's broader salary cap circumvention investigation tied to Leonard's endorsement deal with Aspiration is still very much open.
00:41In fact, Pablo Torre, who is the reporter who broke the whole story back in September of 2025, isn't backing
00:49off at all.
00:51Just days before that ESPN report dropped, Torre released what he says are internal Clippers emails.
00:59And those emails appear to show team staff coordinating sponsorship activity between Leonard, his uncle, and rep, Dennis Robertson, and
01:08an outside company named Daktronics.
01:11Now, I need to be precise here with the context because those emails show coordination on deliverables, but they do
01:19not by themselves prove that any rule was broken.
01:23Now, that's an important distinction the Post audience deserves and all parties involved deserve to hear in this scandal as
01:30well.
01:31Now, the real-world impact of all of this is Leonard's expected trade to Toronto still remains on hold while
01:39the league sores throughout all of this mess.
01:42And after that ESPN report seemed to clear Ballmer personally, Torre took to X teasing that he's got more.
01:49So as of right now, here's where it all stands.
01:52You've got two threads pulling in different directions, a report that looks favorable for ownership and a reporter who says
02:01that the story is not over.
02:04Now, given that this is still an active, unresolved NBA investigation and no formal declarations of guilt or innocence,
02:12I'm going to keep my opinion to myself, especially since we don't know how it affects how the trade shakes
02:19out in the long run.
02:20But now you know the updated facts of all of it.
02:24You know to be out on the lookout for Torrey's next report and that the NBA is still looking into
02:30it all.
02:31There's going to be more and we will be sure to keep you all posted.
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