The Briefcase, Ballmer's Social Network and Aspiration's House of Cards: Kawhi-Gate Part VII
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Pablo Torre
4.7 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 9 January 2026
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As the NBA's investigation heats up, Pablo goes behind closed doors — and emerges with fresh sunlight: What exactly did the Clippers know about Kawhi Leonard's no-show deal? When did Steve Ballmer really get to know the fraudster who paid him off? And what do Doc Rivers, the Ritz-Carlton and a topless fashion shoot have to do with the origin story of a "match made in heaven" that the richest owner in sports would rather you ignore? Amin Elhassan and David Samson shake their heads, as we fact-check a timeline that the Clippers want you to believe.
Previously on PTFO:
• Part I: The Silent Superstar and the Rotten Apple Tree
• Part II: An Argument with Mark Cuban
• Part III: The Mystery Investor, the No-Show Payday and the "Smoking Gun"
• Part IV: Steve Ballmer, the Other Cuban and the $118 Million Infusion
• Part V: Steve Ballmer's "Inconceivable" Donation, the $20 Million Guarantee and a Head on a Spike
• Part VI: An IRL Showdown with Mark Cuban
• Subscribe to Pablo's newsletter for exclusive access, documents and invites
• Subscribe to "Nothing Personal with David Samson"
• Subscribe to "Basketball Illuminati" with Amin Elhassan
(Pablo Torre Finds Out is independently produced by Meadowlark Media and distributed by The Athletic. The views, research and reporting expressed in this episode are solely those of Pablo Torre Finds Out and do not reflect the work or editorial input of The Athletic or its journalists.)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Pablo Torre finds out. I am Pablo Torre, and today we're going to find out what this sound is. |
| 0:06.5 | I believe the clippers are well aware. |
| 0:13.4 | Right after this ad. |
| 0:26.2 | We published our last episode about the Los Angeles Clippers and aspiration about three months ago. And since then, the scandal has seemed quiet. There's been no |
| 0:35.8 | public update from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver |
| 0:38.0 | or Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, |
| 0:40.9 | even Mark Cuban, stopped tweeting about it. |
| 0:44.3 | But behind the scenes, a lot has been happening, |
| 0:49.7 | especially here in New York City. |
| 0:52.6 | I can't believe you got me out of the house for this. |
| 0:55.0 | I don't take your time for granted. |
| 1:02.0 | We now have nine sources from inside Aspiration, |
| 1:06.0 | who alleged that Balmer hit a $48 million scheme |
| 1:09.0 | to pay his superstar Kauai Leonard through a no-show contract. |
| 1:13.8 | And that aspiration, which was also an enormous Clippers sponsor, never even announced this |
| 1:19.8 | endorsement deal for a simple reason. |
| 1:23.0 | The richest owner in all of sports who had personally invested $50 million at first into this tree |
| 1:29.4 | planting company was circumventing the salary cap, breaking a cardinal NBA rule that |
| 1:35.3 | tries to limit what billionaire owners can pay to win. |
| 1:39.3 | This is not a small investigation that started on September 3rd with us and you. |
| 1:49.8 | Team Balmer, however, has been telling their own version of this story, a version where |
| 1:54.8 | Balmer himself is the most reliable narrator of this fraud-laden timeline and his secretive social network. |
... |
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