Clippers fined $30M

Sports · Heat 1.0 / 10 · 5 shows · 22m airtime

On September 8 the NBA fined the LA Clippers $30 million, banned Steve Ballmer from team events for a year and took five draft picks for circumventing the salary cap to sign Kawhi Leonard. The year-long investigation was conducted by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Reporting since has put the alleged off-the-books payments at $66 million, routed through no-show endorsement deals, on top of Leonard's on-the-books salary. The discussion centers on Pablo Torre's reporting and the rarity of a cheating punishment actually landing.

How 5 podcasts covered it

1. The Megyn Kelly Show, 2026-09-04 (10:32 to 14:49)
   Details the draft picks and outside firm
   Reads out the league's penalty in detail: five first-round picks, one per draft from 2029 through 2033, and names the outside firm, Wachtell Lipton, that ran the year-long investigation and found a pattern of cap evasion.
   New angle: The year-long NBA investigation was conducted by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
2. Pivot, 2026-09-04 (54:09 to 57:24)
   Recaps the Ballmer ban and fine
   Kara and Jacob discuss Steve Ballmer's year-long ban from Clippers games and $30 million fine over a sweetheart sign-company deal to pay a player above salary caps, praising Pablo Torre's reporting and criticizing ESPN and Mark Cuban for dismissing it.
3. The Daily Show: Ears Edition, 2026-09-08 (34:14 to 39:16)
   Covers the fine and the off-the-books payments
   Covers the NBA's punishment of the Clippers - the $30 million fine, Ballmer's one-year ban, five lost draft picks - and the off-the-books payments to Kawhi Leonard, including a fake tree-planting charity, crediting Pablo Torre's reporting.
4. What Next, 2026-10-07 (9:15 to 17:12)
   Tells the origin of the Aspiration tip
   Pablo Torre tells the origin story of his own reporting: the tip about Aspiration, the bankruptcy filing, the KL2 Aspire LLC, and the no-show endorsement deals. He puts a figure on the scheme - $66 million beyond what the cap allowed - and says Ballmer claims $50 million in legal fees on top of the fine.
   New angle: Ballmer allegedly paid Kawhi Leonard $66 million beyond the cap through no-show endorsement deals.
5. The Bill Simmons Podcast, 2026-10-21 (42:34 to 44:30)
   Reacts to the Clippers' post-penalty state
   Griffin, watching from afar, reacts to the Clippers' post-penalty state: no first-rounders from 2029 to 2033 and none the next two years, sympathy for fans and for newcomers like Brandon Ingram, and doubt about whether Ty Lue stays. He confirms he has not spoken to Ballmer since the trade.