It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infiniti Sports Network. The NFL season, well It might be minutes away from getting under way. But the NBA? What off season do they air? I mean, we're weeks away from training camp, or a little more than a month away from the start of the regular season, and we got scandals already.
The Clippers are back in the news. Thank God it's nothing like Donald Sterling. But and this could be devastating. I'm referring to this uh cap circumvention, the alleged capped circumvention, By the Clippers to get Kawhi Leonard some extra dough. To break down what took place and what news came out from Pablo Torrey, what this might mean for the Clippers moving forward as someone who covers all things Clippers for the athletic.
Joining us right now is Law Murray. Law, good to have you back, man. Yeah, thanks for having me, man. Absolutely. When you think about the Clippers, of course, there was a lot said about Kawhi Leonard joining the team in twenty nineteen and the investigation into his Uncle Dennis and what they were asking for and free agency.
Are you surprised about the news and the report that came out yesterday from Pablo? I'm surprised. But I'm surprised it didn't like last that long, 'cause we've been here before. We've been here before. In multiple different directions, here you know, like Steve Bomber independent of Kawhi, Kawhi, independent of the Clippers.
So I mean It's surprising 'cause you go through especially the offseason the covers had Basketball operations wise, this was a really good offseason for them. And you're thinking, damn, they're going. Get through this, and the only slander is the fact that the OKC Thunder are the defending champions, you know, how this whole thing with Kawhi started, right? And it's like, nah. Here we are again with another scandal.
So you know, it it's like surprising, but I was able to take a deep breath and be like, yeah, you know. Familiarity, other than your both.
So the response that we got from the Clippers is, our owner is a co-founder of Microsoft, why would he do something so dumb? What are you thinking about what the Clippers say that this was just some Scheme from a sponsor that defrauded them, even though he was one of the investors into the company. It all sounds fishy. Yeah, I mean from the clippers point of view they're going to put all the liability that they tend On aspiration. This is a company that they were excited about.
Well, they were breaking ground on into a dome in 2021. I actually remember meeting a day and Sitting across from Steve Ballmer and the co-founder of Aspiration. Joe Sandberg. And that was a big deal. It was a presence on their social media for two years.
But then it disappeared. This is the first time I've been, you know, aspiration has been something I've had to think about. Uh since twenty twenty three when they were tweeting every cover a month or whatever. Hey. Every time the Clippers make threes, we're going to plant trees, you know.
Like that was a real thing.
So, of course, the Clippers, from their point of view, they're going to say, all the liability, all the issues here. Aspiration was working independently. That's where the Clippers are going to try and focus is what's going to be. The interest of the MBA is how much they can basically say. Aspiration was only doing things at the discretion of the Clippers.
That's going to be, that's the conflict now, and that's. what the NBA is going to have to sort out. Law Murray is joining us from the Athletic, knowing that the the season well a little more than a month away from the start of it w this is not going to have any implications on the Clippers this upcoming season. They'll be able to to play basketball and any controversy will be about their ages, right? I don't think that's true.
I don't think that's true at all. I think the NBA has every incentive to This is a lot that they have to sort through as far as their investigation. Why? being that it's the first week of September and being that camps will be underway in four weeks and being that the regular season will be underway by the middle of by the end of October, They're going to want to move quickly here. Because they're going to want to dole out.
potential penalties. And one of the penalties that could be on the table here is if they need to void the contract of Kawhi Lennon. And obviously That has a serious Ramifications on the fortunes on the floor for the LA Clippers. Also, If this affects the front office, then that sends things into disarray as well.
So there are going to be things that we have to see how things get obsessed. uh as far as the penalties and consequences and you know until it's ruled out you have to consider that one of the possibilities will include something that affects the status of Kawhi Learn.
Well l well, Law at at what point Investigation. I mean, you think about college athletics. The NCAA will investigate things for four years before we get a punishment. How long do you think it'll take before the NBA closes things down with the Clippers? This is gonna take months, probably, right?
No? I I think m months. Here's the thing, the NBA. The NBA Has a history of dragging things on as far as certain. investigations.
But There are other things where It it they don't have to take that long. You know what I mean? I would say this is going to be measured in weeks. There's nothing there.
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So, I don't expect a resolution next week, but I don't want to compare this to. other investigations. This is something that I think they're going to have a high level of urgency on But I would also expect them to have a as part of that urgency Making sure that they assess the damages swiftly and come to a conclusion as swiftly as they can. Law Murray is here with us, covers the Clippers for the Athletic. We've seen in the past what took place with Joe Smith.
You know, taking away draft picks, you think about the fine, and that was like 25 years ago. I mean, if you move the numbers up for inflation, and I know the Clippers don't necessarily have draft picks, but how do you punish a team? How do you punish a guy? Who's one of the wealthiest dudes on earth, a co-founder of Microsoft? You're not going to make him sell the team.
That ain't happening, right? Nah, I d I don't think that there's going to be a case where they get Steve Barmer is not at that risk of getting him out the league. Like, if you want to look at 25 years ago. Here's what happened. Glenn Taylor was the owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Glenn Taylor wound up getting suspended for a year.
The symbols were finded. Three and a half million dollars, I believe. Uh, so you can again adjust and say how much that would be for 2025. They were docked five draft picks initially, and ultimately. They got two of those draft picks back on appeal.
Um as you know The Clippers don't exactly have a wealth of draft picks.
So, I mean, there would be a bad look if Steve Barner couldn't be around when Intuit Dome is literally hosting All-Star Weekend, the biggest weekend. The NBA has outside of anything involving the NBA finals, you know, that would be a bad look. But fines and suspensions and loss of draft picks. That they won't hurt the Clippers that much. Even if you take Kawhi away.
Again, not a laughing matter, but everyone's going to point out the fact that Part of the Clippers' experience with Kawhi is Kawhi not playing games.
So I'm interested to see exactly what the NBA is going to do. You want to. You know, send a message or make an example out of the clippers exactly. How are they going to do that? You know, but I don't think that this bombers at risk of losing the team.
Like, the NBA ain't going to want that. That's for sure.
Well, if we look at the team that's on the basketball court, you just mentioned Kawhi and the The fact that he's not always on the court. You got James Harden, who's been durable, but how long is that going to last? He ain't going to last forever. You got Nick Batoon. You got Zubach, he's young at the center position.
What are you expecting? You got Bradley Beal. What can this team do if it's just about the basketball?
Well, if it's just about the basketball The Clippers are a good team that They objectively got better. They. Retained a lot of good players. They added older players in Brooke Lopez and Chris Paul, but. Those guys were starters last year, and in Lopez's case, a starter for A playoff team.
They are now backing up the two. stalwarts as far as availability last year. in James Hardin and Evince Dubatz respectively. Uh they're they're deeper. Uh I would say they're better.
I don't think Bradley Beal is an upgrade on Norman Powell, but when you consider that Norman Powell's contract was used to get John Collin. and gives the Clippers a player that they didn't have on their roster last year. Athletic size at that position, I think that's a big deal. And so, They are going to be a factor in the West. Do I think they are a contender?
No. And mainly because their two best players are. Really good regular season players are James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, but both of those guys have. Have not really shown that they can lead a team to multiple playoff series wins in a year. um this decade.
And that is the thing that you're going to have to You're gonna have to see it's like, all right, who's gonna be the guys that help those guys? Because in the playoffs last year, the Denver Nuggets, not a good play defense, probably the worst defense of any team that made the playoffs. They were able to, over the course of the series, shade their coverage and sell out to take away Hardin and Leonard. Those guys need help. We're going to see who is going to be suitable enough to help them.
Well, I guess first we gotta see if the NBA is gonna find any uh Any issues with with Kauai and his contract and where he got extra money from or where he did it, This is uh This is one of these movies. Netflix is going to have the documentary. If the NBA gets this done, Netflix will have the documentary by January law, okay? Yeah, I mean, look, if not Netflix, then I'm sure FX can roll back another series. Hey, look, the more the merrier.
Bolong, appreciate the time. Appreciate the insight. I'm sure we'll be having a chat with you real soon. Uh where can people follow you and all your work covering this? Yeah, well, first of all, shout out to the athletic and shout out to Pablo, who is with.
with us now and I'm on all the socials. Y'all can find me. Y'all know how to use a search engine. Fine law battery. Law, we appreciate you, man.
Try to get some downtime before the season starts, but I doubt it. Uh, you know, all I gotta do is stretch every day, man. Hey, I hear that. A lot of people need to start off that way. Law, I'll catch you soon, okay?
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Mm-hmm.
