LA Clippers' Self-Sabotaging Masterclass Produces A Much-Needed Win For Journalism
Summary of the LA Clippers' latest embarrassment in the Kawhi Leonard saga and the NBA's massive punishment onto the Clippers for their misdealing, followed up by a lesson that can be learned from Pablo Torre's independent investigative work and how much we value journalism
At long last, the NBA announced sanctions for the Los Angeles Clippers, owner Steve Ballmer and his subordinates, and Kawhi Leonard for their salary cap circumvention rule violations reported exactly 365 days ago by journalist and 'Pablo Torre Finds Out' podcast host, Pablo Torre. And those sanctions were very heavy and very hefty.
While the year-long suspension for Ballmer and suspensions of Clippers executives Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker are obviously significant, when you meditate on and consider just how valuable first round picks are for NBA franchises, getting stripped of first rounders in five consecutive years is materially the Association's version of the death penalty.
But the Clippers have no one to blame but themselves. They know full well what that feels like by now, because when you look at the history, they are above and beyond the most self-destructive franchise in NBA history. I'm not kidding nor am I being hyperbolic. This goes all the way back to their Buffalo Braves days.
I'm not going to bore you with those details, but the Kawhi Leonard era in "Clip City" is now officially the latest chapter in their franchise-long embarrassment ritual. In short, the Clippers were so desperate to become the new superpower in Los Angeles basketball over the same-city rival Lakers (if you know anything about anything, you know that was never going to happen) that they handed everything to Kawhi Leonard and his representation, no matter how over-the-top or improper their asks were.
From demanding the Clippers trade for then-OKC Thunder star Paul George in 2019 to the tune of five first round picks, an All-Star in Jalen Williams and a title-winning superstar in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in what is widely considered the worst trade in NBA history, to setting up illegal big-money fake endorsement side deals with fraudulent companies, the Clippers' signing of Kawhi was engulfed in historic amounts of risk with one minuscule reward: one singular Conference Finals appearance that Kawhi wasn't even healthy for.
The Clippers in 2019 essentially traded five first rounders as well as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams to acquire Paul George and Kawhi Leonard in a deal that will live in NBA infamy.
While I could go on-and-on about the Clippers ineptitude as a franchise here, that's not really what I want to talk about. Even though losing 10 first round picks for just two Conference Finals wins is very funny to everyone outside of "Clipper Nation." But, yes: that's not what I want to talk about directly.
If you want to read more about the Clippers' misdealing here, I encourage you to read the full summary report of the NBA investigation produced by Wachtell, Lipton, Rozen & Katz here.
What I want to talk about is what the NBA's historic punishment means in the grand scheme of the relationship between quality journalism and actual accountability: a relationship that has been under siege in the realms of sports and more-so politics for some time now.
Pablo Torre's reporting on this was impeccable at every turn for a year's span of time. It was detailed, it was analytical, it was compelling. Objectively! Yet, even with that being said, some of the fan discourse about Torre's work was... interesting.
The fact that Torre's Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting was being reduced by many as "snitching" clearly speaks to a larger societal problem. I mentioned earlier; the field of journalism has been fraught for some time now because of the ever-changing media landscape today. Journalists and reporters are being shoved out of the camera lens in favor of pundits and talking (often screaming) heads. The emergence of generative AI makes it that people rely on easily-manipulated "overviews" over actual accredited work for whatever information they're seeking out and searching for.
Instead of people looking at things from a "right vs. wrong" lens, many have been conditioned to use a "convenient vs. inconvenient" lens instead. With all of this and more, the truth's importance is being diminished more and more over time.
Despite this, I've said on this platform before that the whole "journalism is dead" trope that people love to push nowadays is pretty overstated. The field of journalism isn't at its healthiest right now, I'll say that. But "dead?" Nah. It's in a need to evolve to survive, though, and Torre's work on this LA Clippers scandal proves that.
Pablo Torre alongside PTFO contributors David Samson and Amin Elhassan reporting on the Clippers' salary cap circumvention scandal in 2025.
The uncovering of this scandal wasn't convenient for the NBA at all. It wasn't convenient for league commissioner Adam Silver, who had to punish the richest owner in the sport in Steve Ballmer who has contributed many great things to the NBA since buying the franchise in 2014, including building the incredible Intuit Dome as the Clippers home arena with his own funding. That's the point, though. Torre's findings couldn't legitimately be questioned and the league's hired-and-appointed law firm to run their own investigation backed up Torre's work.
As much as Silver didn't want to punish the league's biggest donor, his hand was forced. If Silver didn't punish Ballmer appropriately, using past precedent, it would have sent a horrific message to the rest of the NBA and the fans. Because, simply, he broke the rules. When you break the rules, you're supposed to get held accountable; especially when breaking rules as brazenly and sloppily as the Clippers did.
Steve Ballmer and Adam Silver during 2026 All-Star Weekend at the Clippers home arena, the Intuit Dome.
We were all taught this as kids, right? Do good, get rewarded. Do bad, get punished. Let me not be naive, though. As we grow up we all learn that life isn't fair, largely. If you turn on the news and watch for 20 minutes, you'll be reminded that it's a whole lot of bad shit being done by powerful people with little accountability ever faced besides a few snarky words from their opposition. That's if your news channel of choice is even bothering to report what's really going on.
It doesn't help that independent journalists like Torre are being called "snitches" and "clout chasers" by chronically online ignoramuses. Compounding the problem, networks like ESPN, where the bulk of sports fans get their content and sports news from, have consistently shown us over the past several years that real journalism just doesn't matter to it anymore.
No matter how much Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee call themselves "journalists", whether deludedly or jokingly, they ain't that. They offer funny and loud commentary on stories that other people break, but that's all that they really offer (besides entertainment for some).
Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee: the two highest-paid faces of ESPN today.
Meanwhile, ESPN shoves their real journalistic talent out the door layoff season after layoff season. Torre left ESPN on his own in 2023 to carve his own path. ESPN since that time has reached multiple lucrative TV deals with the NBA as well as the National Football League, NCAA, Major League Baseball and other large corporations and entities. Around here, we call that "getting in bed" with these leagues.
That "accountability" word I keep throwing around? It doesn't really exist for ESPN any longer when the scandals and impropriety that these leagues sometimes produce can't be reported on with complete integrity because these same leagues are lining ESPN's pockets.
ESPN used to be a superpower on its own in that regard. Now? Far from it. They're too busy rolling around in bed with their Benjamins to care about covering professional sports with fairness for the fans. That's a problem, and ESPN's article claiming that the "NBA found no evidence that Ballmer was funneling Kawhi through sponsors" posted by three previously well-respected sportswriters before the NBA officially ruled on punishment illuminates this fact.
ESPN has caught much criticism for many things over the past decade; pushing real journalism out of clear view has been a major one.
But maybe a good-sized bulk of the fans don't care. These networks and organizations do what the money tells them to do at every turn; the ratings. As long as loudmouth slop content and softball coverage gets more viewers than "boots-on-the-ground" journalism, these TV networks —sports, political or otherwise— are going to choose the former over the latter every single time. People don't really know how much power they really have sometimes when it comes to what they spend their money and time on. Those decisions matter very much to the higher-ups. No matter how small we can feel underneath their iron fists sometimes, that still remains the truth.
That fact makes journalism highly important. While the NBA's punishment of the Clippers organization and Kawhi (I guess, have fun in Toronto $700,000 poorer) was large, their final decision wasn't ever going to dictate the voracity of Pablo Torre's finding out here.
Before the NBA's ruling on punishment, the Clippers agreed with the Raptors on a deal that would send Kawhi Leonard back to the Toronto Raptors; the team that Kawhi led to a championship in 2019.
Journalism can communicate to you who and what should face accountability, but it doesn't guarantee that said accountability will ever take place, especially in the present day-and-age. What the NBA's gavel swing onto the Clippers is in this sense is a nice breath of fresh air, though. The punishment largely fitting the crime in an objective way. I haven't seen much of that in the world lately.
But if journalism actually dies out, we won't ever see that again. So be more conscious and value journalists a lot more. And gain a better understanding about what their roles in society actually are.
