Pablo Torre had been the man responsible for bringing the LA Clippers and Steve Ballmer’s alleged salary cap circumvention to light last year.
However, for all the work he put in to try and bring attention to what could be one of the biggest possible scandals in NBA history, the former ESPN pundit didn’t have high hopes.
In fact, just one week before Ballmer and the Clippers’ seeming exoneration, Torre suggested that he wasn’t optimistic about the NBA taking action against them.
Pablo Torre expected Steve Ballmer and LA Clippers to escape NBA punishment
Speaking on the Dan Patrick Show on August 7th, 10 days before the NBA found no wrongdoing by the LA Clippers, Pablo Torre hinted that Steve Ballmer would walk away from this situation relatively unscathed.
“I think the question is an Adam Silver question. This is what is so interesting. Adam Silver is not his mentor, David Stern.
“Adam Silver is actually the guy who welcomed Steve Ballmer in, in replacement of Donald Sterling. He was hailed as this Aristotelian, brilliant, progressive leader in comparison to all the other commissioners, Roger Goodell, namely at that time.
“Now he is bookending his tenure with the same guy being an even bigger problem, a complicated problem.
“If you’re Adam Silver in 2019, when he cleared the Clippers and Steve Ballmer of cap circumvention after investigating the Raptors and the Lakers’ claims, what you’ve done, on the record, is say, ‘Salary cap circumvention is the cardinal rule of the NBA.’
“I think underpinning all of this, the moment that we’re in, with sports gambling, as the NBA balances a gambling scandal and investigation… is a question of whether the rules matter.
“If you break the rules, as has been alleged, the question is: how do you possibly make it so that the cardinal rule is treated like it?
“By any standard of fake NBA law, everything should be on the table. Realistically, in terms of the money, and if you follow it, I think there is a very real chance that Steve Ballmer emerges relatively unscathed.”
As soon as the news of the NBA’s investigation was reported, Pablo Torre issued a simple response while sharing the clip of his appearance last week.
“I tried to tell you.”
While the NBA suggested that ESPN’s reporting was riddled with inaccuracies about the nature of their investigation, all reports suggest that the Clippers, Ballmer, and Kawhi Leonard are set to face no penalties.
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