Pablo Torre dropped his latest bombshell on Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers and this one may be a gamechanger.
After initially reporting that Leonard had a sponsorship deal with Aspiration that appeared to circumvent the NBA salary cap, Torre found a similar agreement with tech company Daktronics, the manufacturer of the Intuit Dome scoreboard.
The second questionable deal is increasing the avalanche of pressure on the Clippers, owner Steve Ballmer, and the entire league over what happens next. And on Friday's episode of First Take, Stephen A. Smith gave his verdict. He suggested that both Ballmer and Leonard should be banned for a year.
"This is egregious if it's true. If it's true, we're talking about banishment for Steve Ballmer as far as I'm concerned for at least a year. It should be entertained that Kawhi Leonard should be banned for a year. He just took the money, but **** that," Smith said. "The deal with Aspiration, that's a green banking company that's at the center of the NBA investigation going on now. To learn that you might have had another sponsorship deal worth millions of dollars with Daktronics? So you had not one but a couple of companies funneling money to you? To circumvent the salary cap with you getting this money but you also getting these additional dollars on the side illegally, because according to NBA bylaws, you ain't supposed to be doing this? Nah, you can't go for that."
Stephen A. Smith had Pablo Torre on his podcast and echoed the sentiment that the hammer should come down on both Kawhi Leonard and the Cippers. Not only did he again suggest a one-year suspension for Leonard and Ballmer, but taking draft picks away from the Cilppers and voiding Leonard's contract altogether.
#ballmer #deal
After initially reporting that Leonard had a sponsorship deal with Aspiration that appeared to circumvent the NBA salary cap, Torre found a similar agreement with tech company Daktronics, the manufacturer of the Intuit Dome scoreboard.
The second questionable deal is increasing the avalanche of pressure on the Clippers, owner Steve Ballmer, and the entire league over what happens next. And on Friday's episode of First Take, Stephen A. Smith gave his verdict. He suggested that both Ballmer and Leonard should be banned for a year.
"This is egregious if it's true. If it's true, we're talking about banishment for Steve Ballmer as far as I'm concerned for at least a year. It should be entertained that Kawhi Leonard should be banned for a year. He just took the money, but **** that," Smith said. "The deal with Aspiration, that's a green banking company that's at the center of the NBA investigation going on now. To learn that you might have had another sponsorship deal worth millions of dollars with Daktronics? So you had not one but a couple of companies funneling money to you? To circumvent the salary cap with you getting this money but you also getting these additional dollars on the side illegally, because according to NBA bylaws, you ain't supposed to be doing this? Nah, you can't go for that."
Stephen A. Smith had Pablo Torre on his podcast and echoed the sentiment that the hammer should come down on both Kawhi Leonard and the Cippers. Not only did he again suggest a one-year suspension for Leonard and Ballmer, but taking draft picks away from the Cilppers and voiding Leonard's contract altogether.
#ballmer #deal
2 days ago
