It’s been almost a year since the NBA started its investigation into Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers‘ alleged salary cap circumvention scheme.
Ever since, sports journalist Pablo Torre and his staff have unearthed mountains upon mountains of evidence, paper trail, and even testimony to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer circumvented the salary cap to pay Leonard for no-show jobs.
From a tree-planting tree to stakes in a soccer team, Torre has discovered (and provided evidence) that the Clippers broke salary cap rules to pay Leonard off the books, and it looks like this scandal simply won’t go away.
According to Torre, Leonard had yet another side deal with the Clippers, this with Daktronics, the company that designed the Clippers’ jumbotron inside the Intuit Dome, the team’s arena.
More Kawhi Leonard side-deals keep popping up
This time, however, the company tied to the organization denied any implication with Leonard, even despite the evidence Torre presented in the latest edition of his podcast.
“My understanding is Daktronics doesn’t have a deal with Kawhi right now,” a spokesman told Torre, “I don’t know what the company wants to say, or can say, given the Wachtell investigation and all that.”
He’s, of course, talking about the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, which is still conducting an investigation into this matter.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver still claims that there’s no evidence to reach a final decision on whether the Clippers and Leonard circumvented the salary cap.
However, the Toronto Raptors paused the trade that would’ve sent Leonard back to Canada as they continue to wait for a resolution, which might drag on all the way into the season.
Steve Ballmer isn’t just the wealthiest owner in the league; he’s also the chair of the league’s audit committee on the Board of Governors.
Whether that has had any influence on his potential punishment or how the league has seemingly tried to sweep this scandal under the rug is not for us to debate, but this definitely isn’t a good look.
Still, independent journalism will continue to dig deep into this story.
