Getting clipped
By A story of American sports and journalism:
- ESPN, on the road to devoting most of its non-event programming to poor man’s Joe Rogan Pat McAfee, lets actual talented reporter and podcaster Pablo Torre walk.
- Torre gets a Pulitzer-prize winning scoop, showing that the Clippers arranged a bunch of lucrative no-work deals with (sometimes barely existent) companies associated with the team for Kawhi Leonard in order to circumvent the salary cap.
- A perhaps bitter ESPN publishes a Judy Miller-level piece of stenography asserting that the Clippers were going to be cleared of all wrongdoing, because Steve Ballmer definitely had an innocent explanation for how Kawhi Leonard ended up with a bunch of lucrative no-work deals with (sometimes barely existent) companies associated with the team.
- A bunch of morons uncritically accepted this extraordinary implausible whitewash, which was immediately denied (and not non-denied denied) by the league itself, and demanded apologies from or sanctions on, Torre.
- There was not, in fact, an innocent explanation for how Kawhi Leonard ended up with a bunch of lucrative no-work deals with (sometimes barely existent) companies associated with the team:
The NBA has come down hard on the LA Clippers as it finally announced the results of its investigation into the organization and star Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers will lose five first-round picks — selections in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033 — and are being fined $30 million.
Steve Ballmer has been suspended for one year, the NBA said, “for knowingly seeking to help Mr. Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities.” The NBA said Ballmer approved a deal with Aspiration because he knew it was a precondition for the company to go into a sponsorship deal with Leonard.
Clippers team president Lawrence Frank has been suspended for six months, while the Clippers president of business operations, Gillian Zucker, has been suspended for one year.
Tune into ESPN for the Pat McAfee Ivermectin and Autotuned Country Music Jamboree!